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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24927727">Empire of Our Own</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MavenMorozova/pseuds/MavenMorozova'>MavenMorozova</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Age Difference, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Angst, BAMF Ahsoka Tano, BAMF Padmé Amidala, Blood, Bloodplay, Canon Divergence, Consent Issues, Dark Ahsoka Tano, Darkfic, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Death, Dom/sub, Don't Like Don't Read, Dubious Consent, Episode: s07e10 The Phantom Apprentice, F/F, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Padmé Amidala, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Hurt/Comfort, Jedi Padmé Amidala, M/M, Manipulation, Master &amp; Padawan Relationship(s), Multi, My soul's value decreases with every chapter, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Padmé Amidala Needs a Hug, Power Dynamics, S&amp;M, Sith Ahsoka Tano, Sith Culture &amp; Traditions (Star Wars), Smut, Torture, some victim blaming</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:55:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>39,483</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24927727</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MavenMorozova/pseuds/MavenMorozova</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><i>All her life, Ahsoka had been cast aside—the last one to be chosen as a padawan, nearly left for dead on a hostile planet by the Jedi Order. And Barriss’s betrayal, of course—shunned by the one institution that had always promised to stand by her. They’d called her a murderer, but what else was she now? Ahsoka had left the Jedi Order, but as Maul had pointed out, it really hadn’t been her choice...not really. Now, if she joined the fallen Sith Lord, she was no better than what they’d called her.</i><br/><i>But it was too late. She’d made her choice. And she </i>relished <i>in it.</i></p><p>Ahsoka Tano never expected herself to turn to the Dark Side, but when Maul offers her his hand...she takes it. While Ahsoka and Maul's plans to conquer the galaxy come to fruition, three Jedi: Padmé, Obi-Wan, and Anakin, may just be the key to bringing back the Light to the galaxy...if they can survive the consuming Darkness first.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darth Maul/Ahsoka Tano, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Padmé Amidala/Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>128</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Chains: The Powerfic Archive, Darkfics for a Stormy Day, Het, Not Straight, Interspecies, Maulsoka Fanfic Writers (Discord), Star Wars Multishippers</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Like a Sith</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>On Ahsoka: she is 17 at the end of the Clone Wars, making her underage in most places on Earth. Where I live, the age of consent is 16, and Ahsoka is over that age. Additionally, the "Age of Responsibility" of most SW planets is 17. If this still makes you uncomfortable, you can age her up. Her age in this fic does not really matter except that she is on the young side!</p><p>On Padmé: she is a Jedi, and she's not pregnant; she still used to be a Queen though!<br/>---</p><p>I've been wanting to write this fic for a while now. It started as a self-indulgent power fantasy and now has an actual plot, more pairings than I intended, and is also (unsurprisingly) dark. Please read the tags. and read 'em again if need be. Please do not go into this fic unwarned--it contains rape/noncon between background relationships &amp; dubcon, as well as violence, torture, and death.</p><p>And now--on to the fic!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>No smut in first chapter. This is not a smut-centered fic. (edit: it does have a lot of smut though)</p><p>Written originally for @hogwartsonline Dialogue (June) OWLS. </p><p>Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>PART I: Crepescule</strong>
</p><p><span class="word-syllables">cre·pus·cule</span> <span class="prs"><span class="syl-break">|</span> <span class="first-slash">\</span><span class="pr"> kri-ˈpə-(ˌ)skyül<br/>
</span></span></p><p>
  <span class="prs"> <span class="pr"> <span class="word-syllables"><em>noun. </em>twilight, dusk.</span> </span> </span>
</p><p> </p><p>As soon as the words left her mouth, Ahsoka was sure that it had only been a hallucination. <em> Yes, I’ll join you</em>. And yet, if it had only been in her mind, why was her mouth still open in the memory of a sentence spoken—a choice she’d made—sealing her fate? Maul’s mouth was slightly agape as well, another testament to the truth of what she’d agreed to.</p><p>“Is this a trick?” Ahsoka whispered, her mouth dry. She stepped forth, her lightsabers deactivating loudly in the silence of the throne room. Maul’s hand still reached out to her, and her eyes focused on it, hyperfixating, the only clear thing in the blur of the moment. "I would never use you like they do. I care about you, don't you see that?" he asked, voice low and dangerously soft. He <em>cared </em>about her?</p><p>All her life, she’d been cast aside—the last one to be chosen as a padawan, nearly left for dead on a hostile planet that one mission, Barriss’s second choice as a girlfriend. And Barriss’s betrayal, of course—and being cast aside by the one institution that had always promised to stand by her—the man who’d she once been able to call her older brother being the only one who chose to side with her. They’d called her a murderer, but what else was she now? Ahsoka had left the Jedi Order, but as Maul had pointed out, it really hadn’t been her choice...not really. Now, if she joined the fallen Sith Lord, she was no better than what they’d called her.</p><p>But it was too late. She’d made her choice. And she <em> relished </em>in it. There was no going back. Ahsoka walked toward Maul, her footsteps echoing in the silence. Her boots clicked harshly on the tile and her montrals only amplified the sound in her head. She felt Maul’s eyes on her and flushed, his intense gaze not straying from her approaching form. She reached out her hand—for a moment time stopped—and then their hands were clasped together, slender ochre orange enveloped in a much larger one, tattooed black and red.</p><p>Ahsoka raised her head, her lips parting as she saw that Maul’s face had softened. His eyes were no longer firey and his muscles were smooth. She felt a smile flit across her face—a luxury she hadn’t afforded herself in the past few weeks.</p><p>“Let’s go,” Maul said, his whispery, alluring voice traveling through her montrals and into her brain. Ahsoka followed him from the glass-covered throne room, a majestic piece of ancient architecture in shambles. They sped off together in the cover of night, a pang of slight regret in Ahsoka’s chest. She had abandoned Rex and Bo Katan, but most of all, she’d abandoned the Jedi that she once had been for good, chopping it into a million broken pieces. Ahsoka Tano, padawan, had disappeared awhile ago, but just now...so had the grey Jedi. Now, in her place, stood a girl on the verge of being a woman—a girl whose only path left was to join the teachings of the Sith.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p>“You’re not trying hard enough!” Maul hissed in her montrals. He was standing behind Ahsoka, breath hot on her neck. “Where is your hatred? Where is your—<em> desire </em>—for revenge?” That one word stuck in her head, catching onto her like a flame and sending a pleasurable chill down her spine. She was intensely aware of the Zabrak’s bare chest against the skin of her back—she had reverted to the cropped version of her robes in the heat of the hellish Dathomirian landscape.</p><p>“Shut up!” Ahsoka spat back at him, fury rising. Perhaps, she mused, this had been his intention. Maul swerved in front of her again, red skin flashing in the fading sunset as he brought his double-bladed red lightsaber to meet her two blue ones, a typical sneer enhancing his features. “You still carry around those things,” he said to her, disgust evident. “You need to bear the colors of a Sith.”</p><p>“Are you even a Sith anymore?” Ahsoka shot back, their sabers slashing again. She pulled back and feinted left, but Maul had anticipated the move and matched her again, the heat of their blades a flashing burn. The slight jab had left him angry and because of it, he fought harder, bearing down on her with unsurprising force. “That’s what you need to be doing,” Maul told her, seemingly sensing her thoughts. “Channel your hatred. Channel your anger.”</p><p>“But I don’t hate you!” Ahsoka protested, her blue sabers slashing the fringes of his trousers, leaving singed holes that revealed metal legs. <em> Those legs are legendary, </em> she thought to herself. Maul, as a young apprentice, had had his legs cut off by Obi-Wan in a rare show of hatred-powered revenge but had miraculously survived.</p><p>“Oh, don’t you?” Maul taunted. He aimed a swift kick at her legs and sent her flying to the packed dirt. Ahsoka struggled to take in a few breaths as she adjusted to getting the wind knocked out of her. The sun had completely faded now, making their bright lightsabers stand out even further in the darkness. Ahsoka saw Maul approached with his glowing red saber, face twisted in a leering grimace.</p><p>“It’s only physical pain,” Ahsoka spat. It was the wrong thing to say. Maul kicked at her again, his hard boot meeting the soft flesh of her side, and Ahsoka gave an involuntary howl. The move had drawn blood, and Ahsoka was sure that there would soon bloom an ugly bruise. She tried to pick herself off the ground, but Maul was faster, leaning over her and pressing her arms flat into the earth.</p><p>“Let me up,” she said calmly.</p><p>“No,” Maul whispered back, settling his knees on either side of her, practically gluing her to the ground. Ahsoka squirmed, but Maul was too strong. “Do you hate me now?” he murmured, sending a wave of shivers through her body. “I—hate—” she began.</p><p>“No, you don’t,” Maul cut her off, slapping her across the cheek. Ahsoka felt blood splurt in her mouth and she gagged, but Maul cupped a hand over her mouth. She gripped his wrist tight in her fist, trying to pull it away so that she could spit out the blood, but again to no avail. Yet, she still felt no semblance of hate there. No, there was something else, a physical, visceral pleasure, pulsing through Ahsoka at an alarming rate. It felt like <em> too </em>much feeling, almost. Ahsoka let out a low moan, her lip catching between her teeth.</p><p>Maul spotted her and curled his lip. “You’re <em> disgusting </em>,” he said, letting her up. But Ahsoka lay there on the ground, breathing in deeply, a smile on her face. She began to laugh, and she wondered why—why was she becoming this way? She wondered if this is what it felt like to be a Sith, in control of her passion...and yet, not. Unhinged.</p><p>“Get <em> up </em>!” snarled Maul, kicking at her side. Ahsoka’s wild grin faded, but her arousal did not. Briefly, she noticed that Maul wasn’t as stoic as he seemed; his nostrils flared as his eyes fluttered shut and flew open again, a gulp traveling down his throat. The next second, it was as if he had never faltered. Finally, Ahsoka stood, gasping and breathing hard. Maul reached out a black-and-red hand lined with thick veins and pinched her midriff, hard.</p><p>“Ow! What was that for?”</p><p>Maul sneered slightly. “You have no muscle,” he said softly with a disdainful sniff. “Not only are you emotionally and mentally weak, but you are physically weak, too.” He pulled his hand away and settled it at his side awkwardly, cold eyes glimmering in the light, which was now fading as the planet’s day began to end.</p><p>Without a moment’s hesitation, Ahsoka grabbed Maul’s hand in hers, and placed it back on her waist, pressing her skin even closer, footsteps bringing her to a questionable distance from Maul—or really, lack thereof. She felt him flinch under her touch, and she moved his hand over her body in response, not willing to let his embarrassment get in the way of what she wanted.</p><p>She was surprised, honestly, that he was being this way. In her experience, Maul was fierce, rough, hardened by trauma and experience. He never hesitated, and always took what he wanted without much resistance. So why was he holding back now?</p><p>“Have you ever...been with anyone, my Lord?” Ahsoka asked cautiously, letting her tongue run across her lip.</p><p>Maul seemed a little confused, perhaps even flustered, and she found it endearing. “Been with—?” His eyes widened in realization and he took several large steps back. “Why should you care? Why does it even matter?”</p><p>His voice had become disgusted and grating again, that moment of soft vulnerability gone in an instant. Ahsoka didn’t mind too much; she liked him as he was, <em> any </em>way that he was. Then she wondered at herself astoundedly, for she’d never have considered that possible before.</p><p><em> Before </em>. Before the Siege of Mandalore, before she’d left the Jedi Order, before she’d become Anakin Skywalker’s padawan. Before the galaxy had been thrust into years of seemingly endless war with no fruitful bounties, only harsh, violent loss and death. As it had taken her innocence and her teenagerhood, perhaps it had taken a bit of her sense of caution, as well. Ahsoka Tano wasn’t the same person she had been three years ago, and now, she supposed that it was for the better.</p><p>And this new her couldn’t afford luxuries; she would have to take what she wanted, just like Maul had always done. She would have to harden herself, steel herself against compassion, and hone in on her passion and strength. She would have to make sacrifices, possibly even pieces of herself—or at least, who she had once been. With a swift chill that had nothing to do with the impending nightfall, Ahsoka realized that she sounded exactly like a Sith.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thanks for reading and i'll see you in the next chapter! If you want a spicier version of this scene, you can read <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23912308">After the Siege</a>!<br/>comments are always appreciated (as are kudos, of course). wear your fucking mask and stay safe!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Those Left Behind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>obianidala, anyone?<br/>this is the only fluff you'll get in this fic, so take it and be grateful</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Obi-Wan yawned and let out a sigh. Outside his window, the sky was still dark, and the perpetual fog and grime of the city, even in the upper levels, clogged his view of the stars. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Coruscant</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He was in Coruscant, but not anywhere normal, not where he usually slept in his standard-issue bed in the Jedi Temple...no, this bed was </span>
  <em>
    <span>much </span>
  </em>
  <span>more luxurious, soft and warm and large.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The mattress moved beside him, and Obi-Wan felt soft hair brushing against his skin. He turned to see Padmé sighing against him, her brunette curls straying across all three fluffy pillows on the bed. On her other side, Anakin stirred slightly and threw a muscled arm around Padmé, his fingers reaching Obi-Wan’s bare chest and tickling him pleasantly (and of course, unintentionally).</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan felt himself relax, as he was beside the two people he loved most, felt most safe around, felt the most at home. He nestled into Padmé’s arms and breathed in the smell of her hair, soon falling asleep again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he woke, he knew that the Force was off. Something had changed, and it was making his hair stand on end. Obi-Wan opened his eyes abruptly to find Anakin leaning over him, a carefree grin on his handsome face, blue eyes sparkling. It made Obi-Wan’s heart ache, but also scared him out of his wits. “Anakin!” he scolded, bolting upright.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin laughed and pulled away, leaving only a memory of his breath against Obi-Wan’s cheeks. “Last one up, Obi-Wan, you know the drill,” he drawled lazily, pulling on a pair of pants. Obi-Wan knew that his eyes were lingering hungrily on Anakin’s lean and toned frame, and he guessed that Anakin knew this as well, as he moved even slower, accentuating his movements and winking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A light chuckle sounded on Obi-Wan’s right, and he saw Padmé walk over to them, her hips swaying purposefully in her slim, light-blue nightgown. She kissed Anakin softly, her plush lips lingering on his and leaving a small peck on his jaw.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Careful,” said Obi-Wan mock-irritatedly. “You’ll only increase his arrogance.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan, a dazzling addition to her countenance that made Obi-Wan’s heart tremble in its cage. “Are you...</span>
  <em>
    <span>jealous</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Obi-Wan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could I be?” he replied in that same, fake-sardonic voice. “I have everything I ever wanted.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But before they could continue their lazy, loving morning, something terrible swept over them all. A feeling, a premonition, a dark, dangerous promise. They all felt it through the Force, and it nearly knocked them off their feet. Obi-Wan sat down slowly again on the bed, his knees a little weak. Something—some</span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span>—was missing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A-Ahsoka,” murmured Anakin quietly in a faint stutter, his voice hitching as his eyes clouded. “Oh, no. Oh no oh no oh no—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Calm down, Anakin,” Obi-Wan said sharply, standing and gripping his old padawan’s arm tightly. “You can’t do anything if you’re panicking.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé nodded, her breathing shaky. “Ani, I am right here. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We </span>
  </em>
  <span>are right here.” She drew the three of them into a tight embrace, Obi-Wan holding Anakin’s head to his own chest, Padmé leaning on Anakin’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But that brief moment of calm wasn’t enough to stop Anakin’s erupting fury. His brows came together in a harsh gaze, his lip curling. “How </span>
  <em>
    <span>could </span>
  </em>
  <span>she?” he snarled, wrenching himself away from Padmé and Obi-Wan, frantically pacing the bedroom floor in horrifyingly precise and sharp movements. “No. </span>
  <em>
    <span>NO</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Ahsoka can’t have done this. She must have been manipulated. She must have been tortured—and she’s probably waiting for us to rescue us right now!” He turned to them, breathing heavy and inflamed. “We have to go save her.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t always be the hero, Anakin!” Padmé nearly shouted, yanking his arm back to them as he charged for the door. “And she’s not your padawan anymore! She’s not a child! You have to let her go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her words stopped him with a deafening silence, and Obi-Wan saw his face change from enraged to utterly miserable in a moment, his expression crumpling and tears spiking his gorgeous eyes. Anakin let himself fall to the floor with a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and the two of them stood there silently for a moment, watching him spiral into uncontrollable madness.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was something they’d always sensed in him, this raw pain and suffering that stemmed from unrestrained fear and anger. Obi-Wan knew without a doubt that he’d react the same way, perhaps even more so, if either he or Padmé suffered a similar fate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But was Ahsoka even suffering a fate at all? Obi-Wan did not care to admit it, to give it voice, but his midichlorians were telling him that this was no kidnapping, no horrid incident. No </span>
  <em>
    <span>accident </span>
  </em>
  <span>at all. Ahsoka had chosen her path, and there was nothing they’d be able to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a concept that he knew Anakin and Padmé would have a hard time accepting. They were both so convinced in the good of the galaxy, the good of </span>
  <em>
    <span>people</span>
  </em>
  <span>, that conviction of the power of redemption and faithfulness. But nothing ever worked that way. If it had, Qui-Gon and Shmi and Satine would have lived. Ahsoka wouldn’t have left the Jedi Order. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jedi</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The Jedi could have still be saved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But alas, all of that hopefulness was a lie. The Jedi were dying, the last remnants of a falling, </span>
  <em>
    <span>failing </span>
  </em>
  <span>civilization, and those wonderful people were dead. Obi-Wan was not one to blind himself to the harshness of reality.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, he glanced warily at Padmé, her clenched brows and lips pressed tightly together mirroring his expression. Probably. Obi-Wan couldn’t be sure what he looked like at the moment. They spoke to each other wordlessly, not through the Force or some superficial means, but solely through emotion and having a longtime relationship.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What should we do about Anakin?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Obi-Wan asked Padmé with his eyes. She shook her head as if to concede that she did not know. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is there anything we </span>
  </em>
  <span>can </span>
  <em>
    <span>do?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But they needn’t have worried all that much, for now the third Jedi was standing before them, his clothing slightly rumpled and his face still streaked with tears. Obi-Wan knew he’d internalized it all, and he felt a twinge of dread at the notion; Anakin internalizing something meant that it would crop up later at an unfortunate moment. “I’m fine now,” Anakin told them firmly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan was sure that he wasn’t, but he said nothing, simply stroking his beard gently. “We should—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But before he could finish, a bell chimed in their room, which wasn’t part of the Jedi Temple, but instead a grand room in one of Coruscant’s fancy hotels, one that remained thankfully discreet, allowing Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé to keep their Jedi identities anonymous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Room 557, a visitor is here to see you,” a voice said from the speaker above the door, monotone and dull. Obi-Wan assumed that it was a protocol droid, though certainly not one as cynical and hilarious as C-3PO.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They turned to each other, a question shared unspoken between them. “Who is it?” Anakin finally asked, giving voice to it, his voice on edge and reminiscent of his episode on the room’s floor, a slight growl that still lingered there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Someone from the Jedi Council, sir,” the droid responded. “I can’t reveal who it is; you have to go meet with him yourselves. But he knows that you’re here, and who you are.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>as always, thank you for reading, kudos are always appreciated, and i will love you forever if you leave a comment.  stay safe!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Want and Ambition</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>the smut begins! however, if you are reading this and do not want to read smut, do not skip this chapter because there is a lot of important plot stuff. So don't skip until the end-ish, at least until after the dream. If you really need to skip, I'll provide a chapter summary in the end notes.</p><p>for those of you who are here for the smut (all of you except for a certain person i know), enjoy;)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ahsoka walked along the halls of the Jedi Temple, Barriss Offee at her side. She could feel the palpable tension between them, and she knew somewhere in her mind that she’d been here before, this specific moment in time. Frowning at the uncomfortable déjà vu, Ahsoka glanced at Barriss, who seemed to wear an expression of deep thoughtfulness; her girlfriend’s eyes were downcast, her brow furrowed and her hands twisting through each other. With a start, Ahsoka realized that her cuticles had been picked raw.</p><p>“Are you alright?” Ahsoka asked calmly with a tinge of worry, a remnant left of the girl she used to be, slowly becoming a relic. “You seem on edge, love.”</p><p>“I’m just...stressed about the attack,” Barriss mumbled, not quite meeting Ahsoka’s eyes. And suddenly, Ahsoka realized where—or rather, <em> when </em>—she was: the bombing of the Jedi Temple right before Ahsoka had left the Order. This couldn’t be where she was—so much had happened since then. Which meant that Ahsoka was dreaming, though she didn’t realize it yet.</p><p>“<em> Why</em>, Barriss?” Ahsoka yelled, her voice rising quickly and garnering glares from attendants in the hall, as well as passing Jedi Masters. But Barriss only stared at her blankly, or at least attempted to do so, though she was trembling and her eyes darted around the hall.</p><p>The next moment, Maul was standing there behind Ahsoka, and the sound of his guttural, whispery voice almost made Ahsoka screech in surprise. “Use this anger!” Maul spat. “Turn this betrayal into fuel for your power, your <em> hatred </em>!” She felt his hands run along the sides of her body, infusing each inch of her skin with newfound energy.</p><p>The next second, each of her lightsabers was in her grip, and she dueled Barriss then and there, her girlfriend bringing a ferocity to her movements that Ahsoka had never seen before. Well, perhaps she wasn’t her girlfriend any longer. Their blades clashed marvelously in the streaming light from the windows, except now, there was no more light, and no more temple; they were standing instead in the swamps of Dathomir. Ahsoka realized that her blades were now red, and she grinned chaotically, the knowledge of her power and her sense of anger for her former lover bringing her closer to victory.</p><p>Barriss was struggling now, her blades—also red—flashing and humming through the air at a much slower rate, her mouth emitting gasps of air far too quickly. In a moment, Ahsoka had pinned her to the ground, and the lightsabers were torn from her grip by Ahsoka’s pull on the Force. “<em> This </em> is what you <em> get </em>!” Ahsoka snarled, her voice changed, mutilated, almost unrecognizable.</p><p>Except that it <em>was </em>recognizable. This was Ahsoka’s voice when deepened by the Dark Side, hoarser, gravellier. In her studies as a Jedi, she’d learned about the Sith and the Dark Side and many of its abominations; this was the least dangerous, but the most recognizable. Some Sith Lords had voices like dripping slime from a metal pipe, slippery and slow. Others spoke only in whispers and growls, like Maul. And some had mechanized voices that either occurred naturally or through artificial means. She supposed that whatever sound was emitting from her throat now was her rendition of this voice.</p><p>“I’m on your side, Ahsoka,” Barriss wheezed, her words faltering under Ahsoka’s too-tight grip. “I only wanted to change the Jedi Order, and now I’ve joined the Dark Side, like you—”</p><p>“LIES!” roared Ahsoka. She knew that she was making absolutely no sense, but she didn’t care. With this duel—and its subsequent victory—had come a rush of heady power, and Ahsoka couldn’t get enough. Being so physically close to Barriss also lent another layer to the steady increasing intoxication, and she wanted more, <em> more </em>…</p><p>Ahsoka leaned down to kiss Barriss, lick her, bite her, and the Mirialan under her writhed in protest, but only for a moment. Their lips met, a clash of tongues and teeth, Ahsoka sinking into Barriss’s neck and the other female giving a little whine of pleasure.</p><p>The next moment, however, something had changed drastically. Barriss was gone, and now Ahsoka was on the ground, kicking and screaming as Maul bent over her, his fingers trailing all over her body. She relaxed into his touch, shivering as he lightly tickled her, fingering his horns gently. At that, he let out a small smile, his lips turning up, though not quite meeting his eyes. “Let me touch you,” Maul whispered in that lovely, wicked voice of his.</p><p>Ahsoka nodded slowly, but before Maul could ravish her, they both ceased to move, frozen involuntarily. A loud, piercing siren sounded, a steady clang and whine that travelled through Ahsoka’s montrals and made her cringe. Ahsoka’s heart sank; they were back in the Jedi Temple.</p><p>Around them, the Jedi ran faster than Ahsoka had ever seen, their eyes passing over the Sith Lord and his apprentice mindlessly; it seemed that she and Maul were simply a blip in time and space. Their countenances were filled with terror, eyes wide, mouth gaping. Younglings screamed and scattered without a pattern, attempting fruitlessly to escape blaster fire that erupted around them.</p><p>A hooded figure led a battalion of clone troopers through the hall, blue lightsaber flashing. Ahsoka was certain that she knew this particular weapon, but in the lull of the dream, her mind kept the information locked from her, the recognition absent. The deeper she reached, the more her thoughts and memories seemed to slip away.</p><p>Ahsoka suddenly woke, her shoulders and back ensconced in a cold sweat. She could barely remember anything she’d just dreamt about, and the only thing that she was aware of was the faint humming of heat from the large Zabrak beside her. Maul was snoring into the crook of her neck, his face muscles wondrously relaxed. They still didn’t know each other well (aside from their general famousness—or in Maul’s case, infamousness—from the war), but the past several hours had seemed like days, and there had only been one cot on their stolen ship.</p><p>They’d left Dathomir after their bout of training, exhausted to the bone and tantalizingly near to something that neither of them wished to admit. Ahsoka wouldn’t have called it <em> love </em> , but it was certainly <em> some </em>form of attraction, a physical bond that only strengthened their mutual power and passion, which, after all, was one of the cornerstones of the Sith.</p><p>Ahsoka now recited the code that she’d learned in her head. Maul had taught it to her before he’d fallen asleep, and in that moment, when he’d spoken those words, his horned head laid peacefully on the pillow, he’d looked...as if he belonged there. He belonged to that code, he belonged in that moment, and Ahsoka knew that he used it to center himself. In time, she’d hopefully learn to do the same.</p><p>“<em> Peace is a lie. There is only Passion, </em> ” Ahsoka whispered to herself, the sound disappearing swiftly in the ship’s absorbing walls. “ <em> Through Passion I gain Strength. Through Strength I gain Power. Through Power I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are Broken. The Force shall free me. </em>” She sighed long and deep, nestling into the cot’s thin blanket. It didn’t provide her much warmth, not compared to Maul, anyway. But it was at least a tangible thing that she could grasp.</p><p>“I knew you were meant for this,” came a soft voice beside her.</p><p>Ahsoka flinched, and she turned on her side to see Maul staring intently, his yellow eyes unblinking and focused on her. She watched that gaze as it flitted around to each of her features, and found that she enjoyed his scrutiny. “Am I?” she whispered in return, closing her eyes and staring into her lids.</p><p>“You are,” Maul replied, not necessarily gently, but certainly without any sort of scorn or judgement at her apparent anxiety. “You have no idea what you’re capable of.” His voice had become rather husky at this point, and in a wild second of recklessness, Ahsoka lifted her hand from its resting place on the blanket and laid it carefully on his cheek, letting her fingers trail to the top of his horns. She pressed down on the top of one with her index finger pad, watching as the pressure induced a slight prick of deep red blood that tricked down to her wrist. “These are so sharp.”</p><p>“My body is a weapon,” Maul replied simply, expression never changing. “You should consider doing the same to yours.”</p><p>“I don’t have horns, or any other sort of natural pain-inducer,” Ahsoka scoffed.</p><p>Maul blinked once. “You have montrals. You have nails. You have <em> teeth </em>.” The last word was little more than a hiss, and Ahsoka felt her stomach flip delightfully. She ran her tongue over her teeth (flat, unaltered) thoughtfully, gaze never leaving Maul’s. “These?”</p><p>One side of Maul’s nose wrinkled, a sort of enthralled sneer. “I doubt those can do anything harmful,” he snorted, rolling from his side onto his back, distancing himself from Ahsoka—though not by much, for the cot was only a twin size bed.</p><p>Ahsoka let out a low laugh. That was certainly one way to announce a challenge. Without a moment’s hesitation, she swiftly threw back the thin cotton blanket, wrapping her legs around Maul’s torso tightly. She pinned his wrists to the bed with her palms, small though they were, and lowered her mouth to his. But Ahsoka didn’t kiss him, no. Instead, she bit the top of his lip lightly, testing the waters. She felt him grin—or perhaps it was a grimace—under her, his long tongue exposing itself to track along her skin.</p><p>This time, she bit down harder, drawing blood with her incisors. Maul let out a grunt of pain or pleasure—Ahsoka couldn’t tell which—and squirmed under her, inducing friction between his toned abdomen and her clothed clitoris. She let out a tiny moan, which did not go unnoticed by Maul. “Is that why you joined me?” he asked after Ahsoka had pulled her head away, little bruises and pricks of blood along his lips and jaw left in her wake. “To be a little slut?”</p><p>The words send a prickle of excitement through Ahsoka, and she inwardly cursed herself for being so openly...<em> wanton </em>. “I joined you to learn the ways of the Sith,” she replied coldly. “I joined you because everyone else had given up on me.”</p><p>Maul eyed her carefully, head tilting to one side. The pillow framed him in a shocking contrast to his dark red and black skin. “What would you say if I told you we could...perform a coup on the Chancellor?”</p><p>“Your former master?” Ahsoka asked, raising an eyebrow covered by her white marking there. Although, it wasn’t really a question.</p><p>Maul didn’t respond, only took in a deep, long breath that caused Ahsoka to rise and fall with his body. Finally, he began to speak. “When I met you, I knew what I’d be up against. I’d heard stories of your skill, and I knew you’d been trained under Anakin Skywalker, who, although annoying, has always been a formidable opponent.”</p><p>“Your point?”</p><p>“I had no idea you’d be such a vergence in the Force,” Maul whispered, reaching his hand up to her face, fingers brushing her lips. “You are fueled by more than skill and the Jedi Code, Lady Tano. You always have been. I could see it in you, the fire in your eyes, the power in every movement that you made. I didn’t want to fight you; I wanted to fight <em> with </em> you. Against the status quo, against Sidious, against the Jedi. <em> For the Sith </em>.”</p><p>She stared at him blandly. “You want me for my power.”</p><p>“I want you for your <em> passion </em> ,” he corrected. Again, his tone shifted, just a small technicality, barely noticeable. But still there. A plea, an allowance, a provocation. “I want you for <em> everything </em> . Every. <em> Single </em>. Part of you.”</p><p>Ahsoka’s breath hitched, and she closed her eyes as Maul dipped his forefinger into the blood at his lips and dragged it thickly down her face, the hot sticky liquid caressing her eyebrow, her cheekbone, her jawline. She grinded against Maul’s torso, and this time, he didn’t scorn her, only narrowing his eyes slightly.</p><p>After a moment, his hand dropped to the space between Ahsoka’s thighs, where his fingers rubbed against her clothed cunt lazily. Ahsoka gasped, pressing into them, the inside of her lip catching between her teeth as she stifled a sound from her throat.</p><p>“Take off your clothes,” Maul growled, his voice guttural and primal. She obeyed, stripping her cloth cropped top from her breasts and allowing them to taste the cool air. Maul eyed them hungrily, and Ahsoka shivered. She then removed her skirt and leggings very slowly, allowing Maul to enjoy the view of her skin being uncovered. His yellow eyes never strayed from her figure, a small smile creeping up on his face, and his hands uselessly clenched the air.</p><p>Finally, Ahsoka stood before him naked, feeling rather bare and vulnerable. “Is this what you wanted?” she asked softly, voice reminiscent of her old self. She noticed that his eyes dropped to the floor, head hanging a little. “What?” she snapped. “I’m just standing here for nothing? Fuck me, you coward.”</p><p>“You’re so <em> young </em>,” Maul lamented, finally meeting her furious stare. “Who am I to—”</p><p>Ahsoka fumed, marching over to him and grabbing his wrist, forcing his hand onto her breast. “I told you to fuck me!” she shouted, leaning into that hand. Maul gave her a reluctant squeeze, but his lips were pressed in a thin line. “Fine,” he muttered, a mere whisper. “But you’re my apprentice, Lad—Ahsoka. You better <em> act </em>like it.” He paused, as if waiting for her to say something.</p><p>“Yes, master,” Ahsoka finally said, bowing her head. These had been the words he’d wanted to hear.</p><p>“There’s another slight problem,” Maul continued in an imperious tone. “I don’t have any organs below my abdomen.”</p><p>Ahsoka stared at him blankly, not understanding his meaning. Then— “<em> Kriff </em>,” she laughed, mouth falling open. “I’m...sorry?”</p><p>“Don’t be sorry,” Maul said. “The past is the past. And I can still feel vicariously through you. Our master-apprentice bond will only strengthen that.” Without another word, he gave her tit another squeeze, this one much more firm and full of intent. His finger flicked her nipple gently, and soon his mouth had replaced it. Ahsoka whimpered, a high-pitched sound that brought out Maul’s teeth, those sharpened incisors biting, pulling against her nipple.</p><p>Ahsoka felt her hand drifting lower, but Maul grabbed her wrist before she could satisfy herself. “Did I give you permission to do that, apprentice?”</p><p>“No, master. I’m sorry, master,” she replied submissively.</p><p>Nodding, he picked her up and threw her on the bed. She wished that it were a bit bigger, but it would have to do. “<em> I </em> will be the one to fulfill your needs,” Maul growled. “The <em> only </em> one.” His eyes had glazed over, and his breathing had become erratic. “ <em> I’m </em> your master, Ahsoka.”</p><p>“You’re my master,” she repeated, the last word little more than a moan, tilting her head downwards to stare at his lust-filled visage. His tongue flicked out and traced circles down from her collarbone to her breasts to the triangle that preceded her pubic hair, interspersed with little nibbles. Ahsoka felt each sensation twice, once in the actual movement and once through their bond. It seemed that he felt what she did as well, for Maul’s eyes closed and he let out a brief sigh of enjoyment.</p><p>“You told me I was disgusting,” Ahsoka murmured. “You told me I was disgusting for being turned on by the pain you inflicted on me. And the blood.” She chuckled slightly.</p><p>“Be <em> quiet </em>, Ahsoka!” Maul spat, slapping her cheek, hard. “Good little apprentices don’t talk when their masters teach them a lesson.” She watched him smile as the skin swelled a bit near her eye, and she felt as his hands squeezed her hips, her breasts, even her throat, but not enough to choke her too much. “Do you understand?” Maul whispered ever so slowly, leaning so that his lips were at her montrals. Ahsoka nodded quickly, though it was difficult considering that she couldn’t breathe well at the moment.</p><p>“Good.” Maul resumed, and as his mouth lowered once more, Ahsoka felt herself heat in excitement. But Maul had stopped; he didn’t yet continue. “You were right,” he said softly. “I did say you were disgusting. But I was only denying what I truly wanted.”</p><p>His words lit her up, the burning feeling spreading through her. “Then ravish me,” Ahsoka whined. “Please, master. I’ll do anything if you just make me come!”</p><p>“Will you rule the galaxy with me? Will you help me kill Sidious and restore the Sith Empire?”</p><p>She assented with a moan, lower lip protruding in a pout. “Yes, master.” At this point, it wasn’t even lust that drove her. The idea of the endless power that Maul suggested was stuck in her mind, and it aroused her even further. Ruling the galaxy at his side—even as his apprentice? It was a lot to imagine, and it made her heady. Ahsoka had never felt ambition such as this before, but now that it was within her grasp, she wanted it more than anything.</p><p>Maul finally dove into her cunt, tongue lapping against her clit and hands gripping her ass so hard that it hurt. Well, maybe in this precise moment, what she wanted was release at Maul’s allowance. She wanted both. And if their plans went right, she would get what she wanted.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>chapter summary: Ahsoka has a dream about Barriss; she duels her former girlfriend, powered by her anger in the Sith way, and then they end up making out. Barriss becomes Maul, but before anything can happen, Order 66 begins in the Jedi Temple.<br/>Ahsoka wakes up to find Maul sleeping beside her. She recites the Sith Code to help herself focus, and finds that Maul is awake. He assures her that she's meant to join him, and they plan to kill Sidious and rule the galaxy themselves. Ahsoka finds that she is actually a very ambitious Togruta, and then they bang.</p><p>thanks for reading this chapter--it was SO MUCH FUN to write. gah, u know I'm a slut for maulsoka. leave a comment if you liked and stay safe!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i'm sorry that it's been a hot minute since i last posted. this is my favorite fic out of all my WIPs, and don't worry; i <i>will</i> finish it, but there's a lot going on at the moment. It's only going to get worse when fall begins (lots of applications and coursework) but I'll do my best to update as regularly as I can!</p><p>Also: I changed the warnings to "creator chose not to use archive warnings" because i wanted it to be more ambiguous, besides, the warnings are essentially in the tags. also, there's some stuff in upcoming chapters (starting here) that isn't portrayed as good but may require archive warnings, and I don't want passing readers to think I'm condoning it. so. hope that's okay!</p><p>
  <i>edit 10/11/20: I'm going to have chapter-specific warnings (which are ofc spoilery) for really bad stuff in the end notes for each chapter with those sort of things, so click to the end if you want to know those ahead of time!</i>
</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé stared at each other in amazement, their expressions reflecting the same sentiments of surprise, but at the same time...a hint of fear. Attachment was forbidden. What would the unknown Jedi Master say when they found that the three of them had shared one room?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé fingered the edge of her dressing-gown nervously, then sinking her short nails into her fingerpads. “We should go down to meet whoever it is,” she muttered to her companions, and Anakin and Obi-Wan nodded warily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They packed up their bags more quickly than they’d ever done so—there wasn’t much to retrieve anyway; it’s not like the Jedi stocked up on possessions—and hurried into the elevator. The ride down was silent, tension overflowing palpably between them. The Force was unbalanced; that they knew. Ahsoka had fallen, or been forcibly taken, or otherwise. Padmé sincerely hoped that it was the latter, but she couldn’t be sure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The doors to the elevator finally slid open, and the three Jedi stepped out into the lobby, still dressed in civilian clothing as they walked across the floor, their boots clinking softly on the tiles. Padmé felt a shiver of dread slide over her as they saw who had been waiting for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Master Mace Windu leaned gently against one perfect, sparsely clean wall, his eyebrows hooded with a heavy seriousness and his hand resting casually on the hilt of his lightsaber. “It’s good to see that you’re still in Coruscant,” he said to them by way of greeting. “We’re going back to the Temple, now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé followed him, feeling little more than a chastised padawan. Anakin and Obi-Wan were close behind, sharing her timid silence. She was unsure of what would happen to them now. Would they be expelled from the Jedi Order quietly? Or perhaps there would be a trial held. Padmé didn’t know; she’d never seen this situation arise before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They took a speeder back to the center of Coruscant, the city passing by in a hazy blur. Before Padmé knew it, she was standing in front of the Temple’s great double doors, her breaths coming to her shallow and erratic. With another stab of trepidation, she realized that she had nowhere to go if she was expelled from the Order. Certainly, she had the family she’d been taken from in Naboo, but they didn’t know her—they probably wouldn’t want her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the four of them were safely inside the Temple’s walls, Mace led them behind one of the towering columns that held up the grand entrance hall. He took a deep breath, seemingly attempting to calm himself, though it did little to ease the lines of worry on his countenance. Finally, he began to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t care what you three were doing just now, or last night, or if you’ve been doing it for awhile,” he said in a rush. “Yes, attachment is forbidden, but there’s a much bigger issue going on here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“...Ahsoka,” Anakin muttered, and Padmé wasn’t sure if he’d been speaking to Mace or simply himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have felt it, too, Skywalker?” Mace Windu asked, his voice catching in apprehension. “The approaching shatterpoint, the oncoming storm?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not until just now,” Anakin murmured, and he cast his eyes down before lifting them to meet Mace’s gaze again. “With Ahsoka, I mean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You do have an unusually strong bond—I might even say attachment—” (at that word, Anakin cringed slightly) “to your padawan,” Mace mused. “But it’s odd to me, I must admit. I had always thought that </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, with your prophecy and your abilities, were some sort of shatterpoint.” His gaze never left Anakin’s troubled face as those last words left his mouth, voice curled around the hint of an accusation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé frowned, and though she knew she perhaps should not have, she butted into the conversation, jumping to Anakin’s defense. After all, she knew that he—and Obi-Wan—would always do the same for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean, Master Windu?” Padmé asked as innocently as she could, tilting her head to the side, brown hair spilling around her face. “Are you implying that Anakin has anything to do with the Sith?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course not,” Mace snapped, but he sounded rather uncomfortable, and Padmé, in all her years of serving alongside politicians as their bodyguard and later as a general, knew what a guilty voice sounded like. She smiled just barely, the expression not reaching her eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then is there something you </span>
  <em>
    <span>would </span>
  </em>
  <span>like to say?” Padmé countered smoothly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mace frowned, his eyebrows and eyes under them deepening. “Anakin, is there something you would like to tell us?” he asked, still staring at Padmé, flipping her own question on its head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That </span>
  </em>
  <span>was infuriating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this, her husband appeared flustered, running a hand through his blonde-and-brown hair shakily, throat bobbing once. “Excuse me?” he finally responded, the phrase really more of a statement than a question. “I’m...not quite sure what you mean, Master Windu.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The old Jedi Master scowled, and Padmé saw that his hand had come to rest on his saber’s hilt again. What was going on? “You know </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfectly </span>
  </em>
  <span>well what I am talking about, Skywalker,” Mace said softly, leaning in close to Anakin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé exchanged glances with Obi-Wan, who had been watching the whole exchange with a slightly stunned expression; eyes wide open, mouth parted. Now, his eyes said the same as hers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was there something that Anakin had hid from them?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The Jedi, their lover, in question, lifted his head, chin tilting upwards. He seemed to be mulling something over, face blank and yet eyes roiling with indecision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, Anakin,” Padmé assured him softly, placing a hand on the back of his bicep. Feeling a little embarrassed, she delivered him a brief kiss on the cheek, standing on her toes to do so. She felt Anakin stiffen beneath her touch, the two of them all too aware of the scrutiny of the Jedi Council member before them. “You can tell us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin took a deep breath. “I think…” he began slowly, trailing off, then trying again. “I think that Chancellor Palpatine has Force abilities—” He cut himself off, and Padmé could tell that he was biting the inside of his cheek. She herself was reeling; his words made no sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Beside them, Obi-Wan let out a short, harsh laugh. “How could—?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would he hide his sensitivity to the Force if he was not corrupting it?” Mace interrupted, brows knitting together. He folded his hands behind his back, swiveling on his heel and pacing back and forth with quick, measured steps. “What else do you know, General Skywalker?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé blinked. Had he just become...politer? Or had it been her willful imagination, desperate to believe that the three of them could stay in the Jedi Order after all this was over?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Chancellor offered me the opportunity to—save Padmé and Obi-Wan’s lives,” Anakin continued, glancing over at Padmé awkwardly, gaze then sliding to briefly meet Obi-Wan’s. She felt a more than small tinge of irritation at his presumption that she couldn’t handle herself, couldn’t even survive on her own. “Excuse me?” Padmé asked, affronted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan raised one eyebrow, hand resting on a cocked hip. “Anakin, what is going on?” His tone was flat, chastising, almost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve had terrible dreams,” Anakin muttered, gaze casted down again, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “A Dark Sider attacks you, burns you. Obi-Wan, you lose your legs and your lower torso. Padmé...you—” He broke off, unable to finish the terrible premonition. “Palpatine said that the Sith have the power to stop people from suffering such a fate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A long, heavy silence ensued, broken only by the sound of gently flowing water from the Room of a Thousand Fountains up ahead. Padmé felt a shiver run down her spine, though she knew that she was more than capable.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Dreams can be misleading,” Mace said after a moment. He quit his pacing and turned to face them head-on again, dark hand falling back onto his lightsaber in a practiced, protective movement. “They may have even been planted there by the Sith themselves.” He paused, perhaps for dramatic effect, but Padmé suspected that he just wanted to postpone the worst. “Palpatine must be Darth Sidious, the Sith Lord we’ve been looking for. You needn’t worry, Anakin.” Because it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>such </span>
  </em>
  <span>a soothing thought.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé watched as Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around their lover, Anakin visibly melting beneath his soothing touch. Obi-Wan always managed to do that with his hugs, whispers; loving, caring touches. She’d never met a man so full of gentleness, while simultaneously being so unequivocally badass. It warmed her heart to see the affection between her two loves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mace Windu, as strict as he was, seemed to be sharing the same sentiment. Padmé watched as his facial muscles slowly relaxed, shoulders lowering. It was almost as if </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>was being hugged himself. Alas, he still interrupted the moment, a hint of ruefulness in his dark eyes. “We need to arrest Palpatine before he realizes that we know what is going on,” Mace said in a hurried whisper, the fear, which the Jedi tried so hard to push aside, present, manifesting in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go with you,” Anakin said quickly, pulling away from Obi-Wan’s embrace and lifting his chin. “You need me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t, Skywalker,” Mace said sharply in return, a hint of his previous coldness coming back to him. “Master Amidala will come with me, along with Master Fisto.” He eyed Obi-Wan for a moment, considering. “Master Kenobi, you stay with Master Skywalker. We never know what may happen when Palpatine figures out what we’re doing. He may order an attack on the Temple.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What about the other Council members?” Obi-Wan protested, and Padmé felt a stab of pity for him. She wouldn’t have wanted to be left behind either, but she knew that out of the three of them, Obi-Wan and Anakin were much too volatile in opposite ways; Anakin let his emotions take over a conflict, while Obi-Wan pushed everything away, essentially cutting himself off from the most quintessential part of the Force.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Most are out on missions, Obi-Wan,” Mace sighed, running a hand over his bald head. “The war is approaching its end.” An unhappy smile crossed over his visage; the war had gone on much too long. They all knew it. And despite Padmé’s best efforts, she hadn’t been able to save the populations that had needed the Jedi’s help the most.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Obi-Wan nodded resignedly, sinking into himself. “Of course, Master Windu,” he said quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let us go, Padmé,” said Mace after a moment, and they quickly exited the Temple, making their way to the Office of the Chancellor of the Republic. Padmé honestly could not believe that this was happening. Palpatine had always been a good man, advocating for justice and speaking persuasively.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That, actually, gave her a fair bit of pause. He’d been </span>
  <em>
    <span>persuasive</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Padmé was sure that he must have used some sort of Force Suggestion to get his way in politics. Padmé herself had always wanted to go into politics, serve in the Senate. But with her being raised in the Jedi Order, her Force sensitivity strong and honed throughout the years, it would have not been allowed for many reasons. And now the leader of the galaxy was a Sith Lord who’d been hiding in plain sight for over ten years.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Skroging Sith-shit.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She could have laughed at the irony, if she wasn’t so afraid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They arrived at the Office of the Chancellor soon after comming Kit Fisto and bidding him to join them in the arrest. Mace had spoken hurriedly and barely above a whisper, as if he spoke too loudly, Chancellor Palpatine would somehow interrupt the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now they were here, standing before the foreboding office doors with terrified hearts. Padmé tried fruitlessly to calm herself, intaking overly deep breaths and closing her eyes.</span>
  <em>
    <span> The path to the Dark Side, fear is</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she remembered Yoda saying. Now she was unsure of what else she could feel, if anything else was even possible. She thought of Obi-Wan and Anakin, the treasures of her heart, patiently waiting for her return (though if she was being honest with herself, she knew that Anakin was far from patient, and she worried of the outcome). They had always given her strength, and now, she needed that more than ever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Holding her breath, Padmé watched as Mace lifted his hand to the door handle, turning it and pushing it open with minimal force. They stepped inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, Master Windu,” Palpatine said with a generous smile as they entered his office. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mace did not hesitate even a millisecond, simply drawing his purple lightsaber and igniting it in a slow arc, Padmé and Kit Fisto doing the same. “In the name of the Galactic Senate of the Republic, you are under arrest, Chancellor.” His voice was low, dangerous. This was the Jedi Master Mace Windu of legend, the one told stories about to little younglings in the dead of night to make them behave. That was all foolishness, of course, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>? This was anything but.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Palpatine’s face darkened, eyes narrowing slightly almost imperceptibly. “Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?” he asked, facial muscles barely moving.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The low hum of lightsabers echoed in the room as Mace responded. The Force, too, seemed to vibrate, sending out an inaudible whisper of danger. “The senate will decide your fate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something approached, closer, closer, the faint tendrils of the Dark Side. Padmé felt it swoop over her, and though she expected something cold, something icy, all she felt was an excruciating heat that burned the edges of her mind. Mace seemed to sense it too; his grip paled on his lightsaber, and his lips clenched together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am </span>
  </em>
  <span>the senate,” Palpatine growled. His voice was different, changed somehow. This was not the voice of a doting Chancellor, loyal to his people. This was the voice of a horrifying monster, the enemy of the Jedi, the omnipresent Lord of the Sith. Unclothed, a tear in the facade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not yet,” Mace replied ever so slowly, eyes flashing. Here was the Jedi at its most warrior-like, ready to spring, ready to defend and protect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A subtle flash of metal. A swish of sound. Palpatine stood, lightsaber in hand, pulled from the sleeve of his robes. The Force reached around the four of them in the room, wrapping them together in its thick vines. Ugly. Deadly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s treason, then,” Chancellor Palpatine said menacingly, words slow and soft. He lifted his lightsaber, and it made a familiar sound as it activated, the blade a disgusting, corrupted red. A beat. Then—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sidious released a loud growl that turned into an echoing scream as he vaulted over the desk, body spinning. Almost flying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé, Mace, and Kit Fisto readied themselves as the Sith Lord landed, their blades meeting his in a clash of amplified energy. Sidious drew his saber back and then propelled it forward. Unprepared, Kit Fisto was impaled through his stomach, shrieking in pain. He collapsed to the plush carpet immediately, bloodlessly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé felt a spike of fear hit her in the chest, the Jedi Master joining the Force with a sigh. She felt him leave her, felt his life presence fade. She was now alone with Mace Windu, the two of them slashing at the Sith furiously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Palpatine’s lip curled violently upward as he defended himself and pushed them back towards the panoramic window that looked over the city, turning back to the offensive. His movements were staggeringly agile; he fought like a man half his age. Padmé could feel the adrenaline filling her, but at the same time, the energy leaching from her pores. She knew that she couldn’t hang on much longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She swiped her blue blade through the air, its bright sky color a guiding lantern that lit her path forward. She lunged a second too late, and Palpatine slashed at her arm, slicing off a large chunk of flesh that hit the ground with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>thump</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé screamed, clutching at her side, and Mace moved in front of her, holding off the Sith Lord as Padmé re-steadied herself. She’d have to worry about the wound later. For now, at least the wound being lightsaber-inflicted would mean that she wouldn’t lose blood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A wave of nausea swept through her at seeing her skin and muscle lying on the carpet at her feet. Padmé looked away, hyperventilating. When she achieved a calm moment in her mind, she pressed forward again, driving Darth Sidious towards the window. Her saber hit the transparisteel with a shattering clash, and the thick, military-grade glass splintered, falling onto the floor of the office and flying to the streets below.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few more seconds, the three of them fighting with drained energy, the Force turning unkind, Mace kicked Palpatine to the ground. The Chancellor—the Sith Lord—scrambled backward frantically on the metal that separated the office from the outside city, breathing hard. His lightsaber fell, down, down, until it could no longer be seen from their perch over Coruscant.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are under arrest, my </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lord</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Mace spat, fury in his gaze as he pointed his purple saber at Sidious’s throat. Padmé joined him, her blue lightsaber stopping the Chancellor from escaping in the other direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The oppression of the Sith will never return,” Padmé added, her voice sounding like steel. The Force was with her this time, surrounding her, a gentle caress amidst the current chaos.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The corrupted man at their feet began to laugh, slowly, then speeding up, his dark chuckle quickly becoming an insidious, hysterical cackle. “No..NO!” he growled, lifting his arms. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You</span>
  </em>
  <span> will die!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A strange sort of blue lightning filled the room. Palpatine’s hands aimed at Mace’s chest, energy crackling between the two humans. Eyes wide, Mace lifted his lightsaber and refracted the lightning. Padmé rushed to his side, heart racing as she lifted her own saber, squinting at the brightness of the cool, harsh lightning that was also, somehow, scaldingly hot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A flash. A howl. “GO, PADMÉ!” Mace Windu shouted at her, words barely discernible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé hesitated a moment, not wanting to leave him behind. Despite his prowess, his skill, she knew that he could not hold up against the Sith Lord for much longer. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mace</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” she cried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“GO!” was his only response, voice shaking like thunder before a storm, the sound of it terrified, yet determined. With one, last, decisive sweep, Sidious’s blade sliced into his side, creating an awful squelching sound. The old Jedi Master fell to a heap on the ground, eyes unseeing, limbs unmoving. A brief moment passed before his body faded into the Force, just as Master Fisto’s had.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She ran then, lightsaber flashing at her side. Sidious followed her closely, his gnarly hand grasping her wrist, twisting it so that her lightsaber fell to the carpet, deactivating and rolling away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he whispered, and it was a grotesque sound, wet slime dripping down a sewage pipe. Padmé turned to look at him, and saw the damage that Mace had inflicted upon his face. Or had it simply been that way all along?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Deep ridges rimmed the Sith Lord’s eyes like aged wrinkles, but they were so much worse. His eyes were a piercing yellow, lips cracked, skin grey and peeling. This visage right in front of her was the literal face of evil.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cold crept through her, entering from Sidious’s grip at the base of her arm. She expected him to fight her, to draw his lightsaber once again. Padmé herself had her own blade raised, her body tense with unspent action. She still had a little energy left.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, apparently, that was not his intention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Chancellor, the Lord of the Sith, the most powerful man in the galaxy, still held her tightly, showing no signs of letting go. Padmé released a short breath, reaching for the Force and its strength to pull her away. It worked a bit; his grip loosened and slipped to Padmé’s fingers, but the reprieve did not last long.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Master Amidala,” said Sidious in that slimy, grating voice. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“To—what?” she gasped, still trying to escape. Padmé’s eyes darted to the open door of the office. If she could just get free of his fingers, she could make it there in just three Force Jumps—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not thinking of leaving, are you?” He’d seen her gaze move. “I’ve been waiting for a long time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“For </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Sidious?” she spat, saliva spraying on his face. “To use us all as pawns in your little game, to watch the galaxy fall to its knees?” A lump formed in her throat, but Padmé pushed it away. “You won’t get away with this. The Jedi are already on their way as I speak.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a lie, of course, but what other tactic could she use?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, all of that,” Sidious replied, waving his lightsaber arm casually, dismissively. He led her over to his desk, pressing a button. A hologram appeared, transmitting the blueish image of a clone blasting something or someone that Padmé couldn’t see. “Execute Order 66,” Palpatine said with a slight decline of his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It will be done, my Lord,” the clone murmured, and the holotransmission ended. Padmé had no clue what that was about, except for tiny pinpricks of warning that poked at the edges of her spine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But all that is said and done,” Palpatine growled, turning back to face Padmé. His grip hadn’t slipped even once on her wrist. “Right now, I’m talking about </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Jedi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“M-me?” Padmé stuttered. That had certainly not been what she’d been expecting. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t you?” Sidious sneered, and he yanked her closer, causing pain to shoot up to Padmé’s shoulder. He put away his saber, folding it into his robes, allowing his free hand to now drift down her body. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kriff. Fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Padmé knew now what he meant, and a feeling of inescapable horror tore through here. She had to get out of here, now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Sith Lord looked as if he was enjoying her suffering. “Finally,” he rasped quietly. “I haven’t fucked anyone in years…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The actual </span>
  <em>
    <span>words</span>
  </em>
  <span>, spoken aloud with their naked malice, were jolting. This was real, this was happening. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stop!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Padmé screamed in her head, but outside she was silent, paralyzed by fear. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Weak</span>
  </em>
  <span>, her mind told her, but there was nothing she could do.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Palpatine slid that roving hand under her Jedi robes then, closing his eyes as his skin met hers. A wave of revulsion slid over Padmé at the feeling of his cold fingers, and she twisted in his grip. He laughed, pinning her to the desk. “You know you want this, Padmé. I am very powerful, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His use of her first name was somehow even more revolting than the lack of physical space between them. Nausea continued to pulse through her, and she could feel herself beginning to hyperventilate again. The wound on her arm stung beyond any pain she’d ever felt, and even though it was fizzling out, it still hurt like hell. But that, she supposed, was the least of her worries.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The Sith thrive on </span>
  <em>
    <span>passion</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Sidious continued, his hand reaching her breast. Padmé cried out in terror, but the sound only pleased the Chancellor; Padmé felt him grow hard against her leg, and yet another spike of fear and disgust and utter helplessness hit her like a battering ram. She was drowning; the waves were too strong, mixing her up in the riptide, her head hitting the sand over and over, unable to reach the surface.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She did the only thing she could do. The Jedi had always been, counterintuitively, </span>
  <em>
    <span>afraid </span>
  </em>
  <span>of fear. She couldn’t let that same sentiment hold her hostage now. Padmé reached deep into the Force, further than she’d ever gone before, almost losing consciousness. Then—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé hurled herself upwards, hands outstretched as she summoned her saber and that of Darth Sidious. Before he realized it, her blade had sunk deep into his neck, decapitating him. The Sith Lord’s body fell to the ground, head rolling on the floor and settling at the corner of the desk. Suddenly, all around Padmé was silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then it all hit her, everything at once, a tidal wave of everything she’d been pressing back. Fear, anger, hatred for Palpatine. Love for Anakin and Obi-Wan. The realization of what had almost happened. A lump formed in her throat, and her head ached with the effort of holding back tears.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, she let them come, and the salty liquid poured down her face in the cold emptiness. Her robe still hung off her shoulder, loosened by an unwanted hand. The clothing left behind by the two Jedi Masters was laying where they’d fallen, a sign of what she’d lost today. Of what the entire galaxy had lost. Padmé cried for her fallen comrades, her own violation, the fall of the Jedi, which she knew was happening at this very moment. She could feel their lives being snuffed out, the Force minimizing more and more until she had to strain hard to feel another Force-sensitive life in her mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After what seemed like forever, she picked herself up from the ground. There were no Senatorial guards around as Padmé walked the halls, and no clones either. Something was definitely wrong. If she hadn’t been sure then, she was now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With mounting dread, Padmé took a taxi to the Jedi Temple. It appeared to be fine from the outside, but when she reached out, all she could sense was chaos, death. Padmé heard the screams of the most vulnerable of them, the distinct sound of a Rodian padawan calling for her master, the familiar keen of a Gungan youngling. Her heart clenched. She had to get away, as much as it pained her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A brief shock of fear again hit her without warning. Were Anakin and Obi-Wan still in there? A chill crept down her spine, not slow and aching as her premonitions had been around Palpatine, but instead a dissonant screech of warning all at once. She remembered Anakin’s dreams. He’d foretold death. Had he...gotten it wrong, somehow mixing her up with himself?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé pushed the thought away and rushed towards the temple, lightsaber lit. The blue glow beside her was a guiding path of torches, leading her to the bonfire that was burning in the Temple.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A clone spotted her. “You’re under arrest for crimes against the Republic!” he shouted, aiming his blaster at her. But no further warning came, no arrest; he simply shot at her as if he was in target practice, blaster firing what seemed like a million rounds a second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé reacted instinctively, saber raising to protect herself as she’d done during the Clone Wars. The blaster bullets pinged off the sky-blue laser before her, the sound achingly familiar, one that she’d always hated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, that was that, then. She couldn’t return to the Temple, not like this, with a hundred trained soldiers and only one of her. Padmé’s head spun with serrated dizziness, her brain travelling in a million different directions at a pace beyond lightspeed. Why were the clones attacking the Jedi Temple? It made no sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she would worry about that later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé ran the other direction, hopping into a free speeder and igniting the engine with the Force. Perhaps she was using her power inappropriately (and she acutely heard Master Yoda’s chastising voice in her head), but she did not care in this moment. It was a life-or-death situation, after all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As she lifted into the air, the Temple becoming smaller and smaller in her vision, Padmé felt a sharp stinger plunge into her chest. </span>
  <em>
    <span>She was leaving all of the Jedi, all of the younglings, to die</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew now, at least, that Obi-Wan and Anakin were absent from the scene; the Force had told her so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The speeder joined one of the highly-trafficked airways soon after she’d reached out with her feelings. Now what Padmé needed was a ship so that she could get off of this Force-forsaken planet. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Literally</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she thought, another stab of pain hitting her unexpectedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite all the time that Padmé had spent being a Jedi, she’d never really travelled into the city proper, aside from her few missions in Coruscant’s underworld, tracking down thugs and criminals that had typically escaped from the planet’s highest-security prison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now she was not here with a padawan or a master, only herself, trembling from her recent near-assault and the awful pressing weight of death that manifested around her. She sent a quick promise to the night sky above. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m coming, my loves.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>But first, she’d need to make a deal.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>i'm...sorry. but padmé is a badass, yes?</p><p>chapter warnings: attempted assault/rape, death, murder</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. A New Saber</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ahsoka becomes a Sith, officially.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi guys! Welcome back to this fic which started as a self-indulgent power-dynamics fantasy and is slowly delving further and further into madness,,,,, please bear with me. So far, it seems like "part one" of the fic will be 9 chapters, with a break for me between writing that and part two (perhaps even a part three).<br/>This fic is only going to get darker and more problematic, so get out now if you want before it's too late.<br/>I also want to add that this fic is unbeta'ed, so feel free to point out mistakes anytime.<br/>Enjoy!</p><p>edit: i also added a definition-style "Part I" at the beginning of chapter one, but it's not really important. I also added a chapter title to this chapter because I forgot and feel like a clown.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“This needs to change.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were standing in the cockpit, the air thick and heavy around them. Maul’s face was wrought with a disgust even more apparent than that which had manifested in his voice as he flipped one of Ahsoka’s lightsabers in his palm, activating it with a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>swish </span>
  </em>
  <span>and hum. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Blue</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was still an uncorrupted, pure, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Jedi </span>
  </em>
  <span>blue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A bubble of conflicted emotions burgeoned within her at the sight of that bright blade, of which she still held the other in her hand. “I...don’t know how,” Ahsoka admitted, willing her eyes to gaze avert from Maul’s figure.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She couldn’t stop looking at him. He was all hard planes and angles, even more imposing without his robes. Initially, Ahsoka thought that she would be irritated or appalled by his metal legs, or at least disturbed a little. But she wasn’t, instead finding them incredibly, somehow, attractive.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Durasteel was hard, unyielding. So was Maul. So in a twisted sort of way, it suited him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can teach you,” Maul said in that whispery voice of his, breath tickling her cheek as he leaned in close to her. “I always am willing to do </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The not-so-subtle innuendo did not fail to bring its usual thrill, and Ahsoka felt herself grow warm. She was annoyed at this bodily function of hers, she had to admit. She’d already had sex with Maul, not to mention her time spent with Barriss, so why was she acting like a giddy youngling? And, of course, as fate saw fit, Zabraks did not exhibit such displays of affection.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But for now, she paid the feeling no heed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want you to teach me </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Master,” Ahsoka murmured back, pressing her body against him. She felt drunk with this new overflow of sentiments. During her time with the Jedi, she’d had to push everything back; no feelings, no romance, no leading with the heart, or even just the body. Right now, right here, she felt undeniably free, and the thought itself was more heady than a rush of adrenaline. It made her want more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More satisfaction of her growing lust, yes. More power, yes. More of every single thing that Ahsoka would grab at. She wanted it </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“First things first,” Maul replied softly with a short laugh. Ahsoka loved that sound; she felt as if she could get drunk off of it. “We will need to bleed the kyber crystal within the saber. Both sabers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Ahsoka said, nodding. “What do I do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul eyed her carefully. “It’s a simple process, though not easy. You must pour all of your destructive feelings into the crystal, all your hate, rage, fear, suffering—until the crystal bends to your will.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka smirked. “That doesn’t sound difficult.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, but it is,” Maul whispered softly, his hand coming to rest on the curve of her hip and sliding up to cup her clothed breast. Though his movements were entirely off-topic, and he did this often, Ahsoka never minded. She knew that Maul couldn’t help himself, and she couldn’t blame him; neither could she.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From nowhere, Maul gave her tit a tight squeeze. “Does a little girl like you even have the strength, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span>, to do what this will require?” He’d been visibly upset about her youth before, but now he was using it to both of their advantages. That hot spark lit in her core again from his harsh words, and as much as she hated them, she wanted more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka knew, also, that his words made her angry, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, of course, is what he wanted. That anger would be the key to channeling the kyber crystal to the Dark Side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They arrived on Mustafar soon after, the heat of the boiling lava around them nearly stifling. Ahsoka grimaced as she stepped off the ship’s ramp, taking in their bleak surroundings. In her hands, she held each of her still-blue lightsabers, the weight and feel of them comfortable and familiar. That, at least, would never change.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go, apprentice,” Maul growled, stalking past her and closing the ramp with a dismissive gesture of his wrist. She followed him, and they eventually made their way to a cave in one of the volcanic mountain sides, the inside air just slightly cooler than the rest of the planet’s surface. The atmosphere, Ahsoka mused, must have been very thick to hold in all this heat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you ready?” asked Maul gruffly, grabbing her fingers and twisting them. Ahsoka cried out in pain, but Maul did nothing but smile coldly. He flopped down on the dusty floor of the cave, shucked off his tunic, and began to run his fingers up and down his torso lazily. “Before you begin,” Maul told her, “Take off your layers. It’s far too hot in here; you will exhaust yourself.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For a brief moment, Ahsoka thought that he may have actually cared, but when he shifted to the side and she saw his own nails dig into his skin, she knew it was only for his benefit that he asked. “Excuse me?” Ahsoka said, brows pulled tightly together. “I’m only wearing </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” She pulled on the cropped top that was really more like a bra and released it with a loud snap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly,” Maul sneered. “Now do as I </span>
  <em>
    <span>say</span>
  </em>
  <span>, apprentice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew that this was not a battle worth fighting, fruitless to argue. And besides, it was something she enjoyed, being watched. “Yes, master.” She just had thought that this ancient Sith ritual would have been...more private.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After all of Ahsoka’s clothing had been discarded on the rocks and short stalagmites rising from the cave’s ground, she took her sabers and sat down with them. She didn’t exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>her bare ass on the dirt, but there was really nothing that she could do to defy Maul. The thought sparked irritation within her, which grew into a pounding fury and frustration as she saw him staring at her with unrepentant lust, stroking his horns tenderly.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That </span>
  </em>
  <span>sight made her both aroused and angry. She knew that Zabrak horns were vestigial, but they still carried a fraction of the sensitivity that they must have had back in the species’ ancestry, especially where the skin tapered off to bone. How </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare </span>
  </em>
  <span>he sit there and get off on her naked while she attempted a sacred ritual?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jaw quivering, Ahsoka shut her eyes quickly so she wouldn’t have to stare at him any longer and reached out with the Force, allowing the pieces of her lightsabers to disconnect and revealing the glowing crystals within them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul released a loud, pleasured groan, and Ahsoka felt that irritation bubble within her again. She grasped onto the feeling and sent it spinning into the crystals, where it formed a wall against her, sending Ahsoka barreling into Maul. He grunted and flipped her over, gave her a hard Force Push, and Ahsoka skid across the cave’s floor, orange-ochre skin catching on barely growing stalagmites and sharp pebbles. She cried out in pain, but Maul only laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That, too, she aimed at the crystals, and added all her anger and hatred towards it about her frustrations with the Jedi Order, Anakin and Obi-Wan abandoning her, Barriss’s betrayal which had sent her reeling for what seemed like forever before she had healed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But </span>
  <em>
    <span>had </span>
  </em>
  <span>she healed?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka still felt overwhelmingly furious, and the feeling seemed to extend to everyone in her life, including herself. How could she have abandoned the war effort like this, left the Mandalorians to suffer, not to mention that galaxy as a whole? But she was still livid at that, even. Everything angered her now, and although she did not regret her decision to turn to the Dark Side, she couldn’t help but resent that it had needed to happen in the first place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Little did Ahsoka notice, but the crystals had begun to fade to a deep purple, their color pulsating between the Light and Dark, sending the dregs of their resistance into her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt it, then. That pull back to the Light, that tug on her old Master-Apprentice bond with Anakin. He wanted her to return, to help him stop Sidious, and she wanted to </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>badly...</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Sidious</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He was the mastermind behind everything, the man who had ruined all their lives, the man for whom the most hatred stirred in her head. He’d manipulated her old master, he’d manipulated her current master, he’d manipulated every single being in the galaxy, and now he had them under his grimy finger, at his whim for whatever he wanted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a final, guttural scream of rage, Ahsoka’s eyes popped open to find two glowing kyber crystals floating in front of her, shining that bright, lovely, corrupted red. She stood shakily, the disgust and resentment still churning inside her as she used the Force to reassemble her sabers, old, and yet so wondrously new.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then Maul was at her side, his warm arms wrapping around her naked body tightly and possessively. Smiling, she lifted her hands to his horns, feeling him tense under her touch. “Maul,” Ahsoka whispered, the name always so hallowed whenever she spoke it on her tongue. “Thank you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shivered, and their eyes met. Behind them, in the entrance of the cave, a large hunk of rock fell from above, landing in the lava river with a crash, but the two of them did not notice. The lava splashed up and splattered somewhere far away, and the light of it reflected in Maul’s permanently-yellow eyes, making them shine like tiny suns. “Ahsoka,” he whispered back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their faces inched closer and closer until in a moment their lips met, soft magenta meeting red-and-black impregnated with thick tattooed ink. Ahsoka had kissed before; she’d pretended to be in love for the sake of a mission in the Clone Wars, she’d done so before passionately making love to Barriss, those kisses trailing slowly down her neck and between her breasts all the way down, but never like this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was the power of the two members of the Sith Order, practitioners of the Rule of Two, blending together into one being for just a brief moment in the space-time continuum. Ahsoka could barely breathe, for the intoxication sweeping through her entire body was so strong, all she wanted was to be closer to him. She wanted him to be inside of her, pounding through her, though she knew that was physically impossible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They did not sense, quite yet, that Sidious had been killed. They had wanted to do it themselves. But then it hit them, the glaring awareness that nearly knocked them out cold on the stalagmites—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Darth Sidious was dead, leaving them as the only Sith left in the galaxy. The galaxy that was theirs, ripe for plundering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fuck,” Ahsoka murmured into Maul’s chest. She felt his hot breath on the spot between where her montrals rose into the air, only vaguely discernible among the general heat of their surroundings. “Someone did it for us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She honestly wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We will worry about that in a moment, my apprentice,” Maul said after delivering her another swift kiss on her forehead. “There are more important matters to attend to first—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka held her breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“—your Sith title,” Maul finished in a hoarse whisper, seemingly so loud in the silence of the cave. He pushed her away and stood imperiously before her. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Kneel</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” growled Darth Maul, desire etched into the command—or perhaps that was Ahsoka’s own imagination, hearing what she wanted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knelt in front of him, bowing her head to stare at Maul’s expensive boots. “I pledge myself to your teachings,” Ahsoka murmured, the words coming to her through the Force, as if she had always known them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then,” Maul replied, excitement mounting in his tone, “You henceforth will be called Darth Ignis.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ignis</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was part of one of the ancient human languages, originating from Coruscant somewhere. It meant, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fire</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>There was originally going to be a sex scene here, but I ended up not doing that (sorry!). Don't worry, though, there will be lots of that ahead!<br/>As always, I appreciate comments and kudos (and any suggestions or critiques you may have from the past chapters as well as going forwards).<br/>Thanks for slogging through problematic rarepair hell with me:)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Preparations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>While Padmé finds a way to reunite herself with Anakin and Obi-Wan, Maul and Ahsoka prepare to face the pair.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get this out because it's been a while since I updated! Hopefully the next chapter should come soon, but I kind of dug myself into a hole with fic requests on my book tumblr, besides I have lots of application stuff AND the semester is starting so...we shall see. This fic is <i>definitely<i> not on hiatus though!</i></i></p><p> </p><p>  <i><br/>    <i>Also: I went back and realized that I'd written "ears" instead of "montrals" twice earlier on, so that has been changed!</i><br/>  </i></p><p> </p><p>  <i><br/>    <i>Enjoy!</i><br/>  </i></p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Lost, little lady?” a small voice asked from the shadows. The goosebumps on the back of Padme’s neck rose, and she felt a little shiver course through her. “No,” she replied shortly with a hint of disdain. She kept her face hidden under a thick, dark cloak (that certainly wasn’t out of place here) and moved only in the shadows. She couldn’t have someone finding out who she was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Finally, after about an hour, when she had made her way down to Level 1313, Padmé found what she had been looking for: a small shack with a faded green door, marked by nothing. It didn’t look like much, but from what Anakin had told her, this supposed laundromat was actually just a front for back deal business dealings, mostly to do with repairs for machinery that wasn’t, strictly speaking, legal.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When he’d first mentioned the shop, Padmé had been, well, aghast. They were both Jedi, and it just...wasn’t a good idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I go there to get work done on my arm sometimes,” Anakin had said with a shrug and a small laugh. “Actually, I found the place by accident, but I really liked the girls there, and they seemed like they needed the business, even though I can smooth the kinks out myself.” He shook his bionic arm with annoyance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The girls?” Padmé had repeated, a warning in her voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anakin’s eyes had widened almost comically. “Not like that!” he’d exclaimed quickly with a huff of laughter. “Trace and Rafa were just really great at getting customers. Real charmers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé had narrowed her eyes again, and Anakin sighed. “You know what I mean, my love.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She’d laughed then, enjoying him squirm under pressure, as always. Though, to be fair, it was almost always more fun to put on the “jealous-girlfriend” act with Obi-Wan, who was simply </span>
  <em>
    <span>adorable </span>
  </em>
  <span>when he was flustered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, she was for once glad of Anakin’s mishaps in the bowls of Coruscant. As she headed for the door of the unlicensed repair shop (and she suspected that even that was just a front for something even more dangerous), Padmé took in a deep breath and quickly knocked twice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A small robocam popped out from the side of the door along the wall, its one red eye feeling like a spotlight in the utter darkness of the street. “Who are you? What’s your name?” a high female voice asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m Padmé, and I need to buy a small ship,” she replied with rising apprehension.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And why should we help you?” countered a slightly lower voice. That would be Rafa, the older of the girls, if Padmé remembered correctly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She sighed. “Because I have a—friend—who visited you before? And I have money?” She felt a spike of doubt then...Anakin had never told her if he’d told the girls his real name or if he’d kept his identity anonymous; it was well-known who he was among those who followed the war’s progress, and he often tried to hide it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Your friend,” Rafa said slowly. “Who were they?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He has a bionic arm?” Padmé couldn’t help the way her voice lilted up at the end, as if she was asking a question, and it annoyed her greatly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A short silence. “Come in, then.” The door slid open unceremoniously, and Padmé gratefully stepped though.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The inside of the sisters’ shop looked somewhat like an old-fashioned laundromat, just like Anakin had said, though Padmé knew that this was simply a front for their true back-dealings business. The sisters in question were standing by the table that stood in the center of the whitewashed room; Rafa’s arms were folded stiffly, her eyes hardened in an I-don’t-want-to-help-you look, and the younger sibling—Trace, was it?—peered at Padmé curiously from a few centimeters behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what do you need?” Rafa said quickly, as if she was trying to get this over quickly. Her eyes roved over Padmé’s cloak, which, despite her best efforts, still managed to look fine and classy, the cloak of a Jedi. “And how much can you pay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Money isn’t important,” Padmé replied in a rush, feeling her fingers begin to tap on the spot where her lightsaber lay, hidden under the folds of her cloak. This whole situation was starting to get on her nerves. If she only had her own ship! But alas, she, Anakin, and Obi-Wan had agreed to split two in order to ration the dwindling resources for the war. She greatly regretted that now. “I can pay whatever,” she continued. “I just need a way out of Coruscant.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rafa sniffed, but the younger of the two stepped out from behind her sister, eyes bright. “I’m Trace,” she said, holding out a hand. Padmé watched as she shot Rafa a mild glare. “We can help you. After all, we’ve heard a great many things about you, Padmé.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You have?” she asked apprehensively. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What had Anakin told them</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Trace said with a wink, and Padmé felt the cold chill of embarrassment slip down her arms. It was such an Anakin thing to do that she almost wanted to laugh, but the nerves wracking through her body at the recent events with Palpatine and the danger to come were too overpowering, and the intended laugh became a painful grimace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” was all Padmé could say, and she let herself be led to the back of the repair shop, where there were several small speeders and a larger ship waiting for them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This one’s mine,” Trace said to her after they’d shut the door behind them, motioning to the ship that sat in the makeshift hangar. Padmé detected a hint of pride in the girl’s voice. “I’ve just gotten it to work. I can take you where you need to go. I don’t have anything to </span>
  <em>
    <span>sell </span>
  </em>
  <span>you that will take you off-world though. Just this.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Padmé nodded, glancing over at Rafa, who was now picking at her nails with a dulled expression on her face. When she saw Padmé looking at her, she frowned and shrugged. “What my sister wants to do with her own property is up to her,” she muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then why weren’t you willing to help me at first?” Padmé countered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rafa shook her head irritatedly. “I’m just loath to trust strangers,” she scoffed. “Especially those who seem to come from the upper levels.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ah, right.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, thank you both,” Padmé said to them, attempting her usual Jedi diplomacy. “Trace, if you’ll lead the way.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned back to look at Rafa before she went on. The woman was young, yes, but she seemed worn beyond her years. And if Padmé’s suspicions were correct, her life was about to be chaos. They had no leader, no Chancellor, even one who was a despot. And Padmé had done that to them. She felt no regret about it, but she did feel the keen sting of consequence as it finally hit her, what she had done. She had left the entirety of the galaxy in political turmoil, and she had acted rashly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Was it worth it? She wondered if she could have avoided Palpatine’s assault differently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But she didn’t have time to wonder about the past. Right now, hundreds of Jedi were being killed, and Padmé needed to make sure that Anakin and Obi-Wan were alright. “Let’s go,” she told Trace, who nodded. “I’ll deposit funds in your account on the way.” She would use the official accounts of the Jedi Order. After all, it seemed with the current events that they might not need it anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They boarded the ship, and Padmé felt her heart speed up as the sky opened above them, millions of stars cresting into view, the beauty of it all sucking her in as it had the first time she’d entered space.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except now, it was dizzying. She was unsure of her place in the galaxy for the first time in years, and she was unsure about all of their fates. Very soon, the Republic would collapse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She wondered who would take the leftovers of what survived.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt the heat surrounding her, both from Mustfar’s climate as well as Maul’s gaze, even as she replaced her clothes. It was slightly disappointing to do so, but she could sense someone coming, two presences drifting ever closer. And she needed to be ready to fight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul seemed to sense them, too. He was agitated, pacing back and forth on the cave’s floor, hands clasped behind his back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka jerked her head up and bounded for the entrance to the cave. Two shadows walked below them, making their way along the thin expanse of basalt that lined the lava river’s edge. She recognized that pair. Obi-Wan. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>Anakin</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hatred, unfamiliar and yet gratifying all at once, tore through her at the recognition. Here was the man who had let her walk away from the Jedi Order without putting up a fight for her, here was the man who had trained her to be part of them even before she had understood what true power meant. Her fingers itched to close around his throat—or even better, to let the Force do it for her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was such a freeing, heady feeling, making the all-powerful Force bend to her will.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kenobi and Skywalker,” Maul whispered with barely disguised glee. Ahsoka forced herself not to flinch, but it was difficult considering how he’d snuck up behind her and was now speaking directly beside her montrals. She felt his excitement mounting and turned to see him with shining eyes that burned even brighter than usual.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lady Ignis,” Maul said to her, meeting her eyes. She felt a bout of whiplash at her new title and name, though she tried not to let it show. She’d always been Ahsoka, just plain Ahsoka Tano, but things were becoming more and more convoluted and dissolving into a swirl of shadows, and now she wasn’t sure who she was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not that she would tell that to Maul, who would surely find some way to inflict pain upon her until she knew who she belonged to. But then again, she wouldn’t mind that at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Should we go down to them, Master?” Ahsoka finally asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul shook his head, and walked past her out onto the cave’s ledge. “We will wait for them to see us,” he murmured in a voice that sent a spark of undeserved heat through her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are they even here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Arrogance,” he mused quietly. “Something tells me that your former master may have found out about your little mishap, and dragged Kenobi along with him.” Her ‘little mishap’ being turning to the Dark Side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul turned to smirk at her, horns gleaming. “We’ll put on a show for them, don’t you think my dear?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka raised the corners of her lips in a faint smile. “In what way, Master?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“In whatever way you choose, my apprentice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ahsoka felt a grim satisfaction creep into her mind. She had every option here, at her disposal. And yet, all she ever had wanted was to be accepted somewhere, to not feel like she was being shunted to the side. Well. It was far too late for that. “I want them to watch you fuck me,” she said breathlessly, imagining the sight herself—Maul’s lips and tongue on every part of her, sucking all of her juices as she bucked into him. “I want them to see how you treat your little apprentice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul’s eyes darkened with premature lust.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And then, in their weakened state, I want to duel them then and there.” She licked her lips, for in the planet’s scalding heat, they had become quite dry. “Vengeance will be ours,” she whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maul came over to stand beside her. “And then we will rule the galaxy,” he murmured, sending a pleasurable chill through her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Then they would rule the galaxy.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This ended up being more of a filler chapter and I'm sorry about that but good stuff is coming next chapter!!! (and also terrible stuff too)</p><p>This fic will be divided into a few parts, by the way: part I is the fall of the Republic and the Rise of Maulsoka (as you can very well assume) and part II will be about the leftover Jedi attempting to regain control. I'm still not sure how this will end, and I may add a part III as well, we'll see.</p><p>as always, comments are always appreciated&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. To Break a Jedi</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>here's a longer chapter than what is normal for me to write! I hope you like it</p><p><b>warning:</b> the story is about to get much darker and will continue to descend as the fic goes on. there will probably never be noncon elements within the main relationships of the story (maulsoka, obianidala) but our dark sith lord and his apprentice will be doing some terrible things. just as a warning. more info is in the tags!! (and for this chapter, there are end note warning as well--please read them if need be! as always, there will be spoilers for aspects of the chapter)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It didn’t take long for Obi-Wan and Anakin to cross the lava river where an old iron bridge was built a ways down from where they landed. Anakin was trembling inside, though outwardly, he put on a mask, the utter picture of Jedi serenity. He felt it, just as Obi-Wan did, that the Force had changed, the Dark Side rippling within the tidal wave of energy that constantly moved around them.</p><p>Yes, Ahsoka had joined the Dark Side. He had felt that as soon as it had become true, and he lad long moved past the stages of grief into acceptance. At that moment, the Dark Side had become stronger than he and the rest of the Jedi had sensed in years, though it still did not balance out the light.</p><p>Now, though, he couldn’t say the same.</p><p>Where were the rest of the Jedi? Anakin felt the absence of their pressure, their life-forces within the galaxy, and it was dizzying. He was always so used to having them there, that now that his sense of them was extinguished, he didn’t know how to move, how to act, how to speak. He felt it even more acutely than Obi-Wan, who wasn’t as strong in sensing the Force as he was. But neither of them knew what had truly happened, and they could only speculate. Anakin did have a sinking feeling, however, that the only possibility could be, well...death. And though he had never liked the Jedi Order, he was devastated to feel the loss of many who he had considered good friends.</p><p>But there would be a later time for grieving.</p><p>The one ‘good’ thing that the incident afforded him was that he could sense the particular nuances of the life-forces lingering in the galaxy much more accurately, and he knew without a shred of doubt that their beloved Padmé was still alive, still making her way towards them. He had half a mind to tell her to stay away from him and Obi-Wan because they were about to do something dangerous, but he also was sure that if he did exclude her, he’d never hear the end of it. Not like Padmé would ever allow him to exclude her, of course. And she was far more capable in a balanced mind than either he or Obi-Wan was.</p><p>Aside from Padmé, Anakin also could sense the clear presence of Ahsoka, twisted as it was, and another Dark force—Sidious, perhaps? He was the only Sith Lord that was at large in the galaxy, and his presence would fit the Sith Rule of Two, but something seemed wrong about that assumption. All he really could have complete certainty of was that Ahsoka was here, on Mustafar, and he and Obi-Wan would save her, bring her back to the Light. It was the only thought he would allow himself to think. There was no other option.</p><p>Obi-Wan had been opposed to it at first. If they went after her, they would be disobeying direct orders from the Council, he had said, and that alone had warranted aborting the mission. But Anakin had never accepted no for an answer, and he wouldn’t then either. In the end, Obi-Wan had assented to his plan and they had gone off in search of the vergence where the Dark Side lay.</p><p>It had certainly been a good thing that they left the Temple, for as soon as they’d lifted off Coruscant, the Jedi were accused of treason and ordered to be executed on sight. Anakin had been sure at the time that most of the Jedi would escape the ridiculous ruling, that it would all be smoothed over, but it seemed now, with all the life-forces dulled to almost nothing, that he’d been disastrously wrong.</p><p>Now they were here, on this unbearably hot planet, but despite the burning feeling enveloping his skin through the thick Jedi robes he wore, Anakin could still feel chills skittering up his arms and across his neck. This would not end well, his mind told him. But he decided not to voice his concerns to Obi-Wan as they crossed the iron bridge, hands resting on their lightsabers as they strode with a brisk pace.</p><p>“Do you feel that?” Obi-Wan asked suddenly, stopping in his tracks once they had crossed the lava river. He turned his head up to face the darkened sky, taking in a deep breath. Anakin nearly barreled into him as he realized that his former master had stopped, and he had to clutch Obi-Wan’s shoulder to stop himself from stumbling. “What is it?” he asked with rising apprehension, pausing in his hurry to sense out the Force as well.</p><p>Then, with a cloud of horror proceeding it, he realized what it was that Obi-Wan had felt. The Dark Side was here, certainly, but it was not manifesting itself in only Ahsoka, but in another Force-user as well. This couldn’t be Sidious, then, could it? “Obi-Wan—”</p><p>His lover only nodded sharply, and through their shared bond he could sense what he was thinking; they both knew that this put them at a great disadvantage, for they had come to peaceably bring back one former Light Side user, and only had prepared for that. Now, there was someone else here, and from the way their presence shifted among the Force, Anakin could tell that this creature had never been a part of the Light at all, never had felt its gentle caress and the way that it moved like water, blessing everything that it touched. No, this person had only ever hidden in the deepest corners of the Dark, revelling in the shadowed beauty that often called to Anakin himself.</p><p>Of course, Anakin had always prided himself on rebuking its temptations on the occasions that he did successfully shun them. But one couldn’t resist a Dark offer when no Light option had ever been given.</p><p>Next to him, Obi-Wan shivered out of realization, something even beyond Anakin’s perception, and with a flare of affection, Anakin wrapped his arms around his lover. “My darling Obi-Wan,” he whispered, the words barely audible against the sizzling heat and rushing of the lava alongside them. “Everything will be alright. I won’t let anything happen to you. Do you understand?” He lifted up Obi-Wan’s chin so that he could look clearly into his eyes, even as his consolation rang false in his own head. Nothing would ever be alright again.</p><p>And as he could sense Anakin’s thoughts, Obi-Wan shook his head slowly. “Don’t lie to me, my love.”</p><p>So Anakin kissed him instead, feeling the tears pooling in Obi-Wan’s eyes and falling to reach their meeting mouths, the salty taste of them lovely and bitter all at once. If he couldn’t lie, he could at least pretend. Although Anakin could not be sure that there was much of a difference at all.</p><p>When they broke apart, it was Anakin who this time split the silence. “What was it that you sensed?” he asked, regretful to ruin the moment with his ill-favored words.</p><p>“The other Dark Side user,” Obi-Wan murmured quietly, his hands still gripping Anakin’s biceps tightly. “It’s Maul.”</p><p>Anakin felt himself tense. “Are you absolutely sure?”</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded, face as still as stone, as unchanging as metamorphic rock floating in space, so different from the endlessly changing lava that flowed through the crannies at their feet. “It’s him. You know that I have always been able to sense him acutely.”</p><p>This certainly was true, and their unforgiving bond had only strengthened when Maul had brutally murdered Satine, Obi-Wan’s first love who had held a special place in his heart even after he’d joined the relationship with Anakin and Padmé. Anakin knew that his lover hated that he was connected to such a man, and now that he knew that Maul was in such close proximity to Ahsoka, his own heart sped up in fear.</p><p>Why would <em> she </em> be with <em> him </em>?</p><p>Unless, of course, they had joined forces within the realm of the Dark Side. And if this was so (though Anakin shuddered at the barest suggestion that it might be true), then that meant that they were fulfilling that stars-forsaken Rule of Two, and that they were the next great Sith Lords. But where, then, was a place left for Sidious? Anakin wondered if Maul had in fact been the Master the entire time, but one look from Obi-Wan and his musings were shut down.</p><p>He wondered then, with the tiniest flame of hope, if Sidious might in fact be dead. That would certainly be one less blight on the galaxy. Beside him, Obi-Wan’s own countenance mirrored his thoughts. But Anakin would not allow himself to be prey to false hope again, as he had done during Ahsoka’s trial.</p><p>As Obi-Wan continued to contemplate, closing his eyes and beginning a breathing exercise, Anakin felt himself bristling with impatience. If Maul really had allied with Ahsoka, then they certainly were in big trouble. After all, both of the former apprentices were strong elementally in the Force and had been taught by the best. Anakin felt a hint of pride when he thought about how fierce of a warrior Ahsoka had become, and a bit smug as well.</p><p>Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of movement, dark red and orange colors blurring into the background of their monochromatic landscape. Perhaps it had just been the lava flow.</p><p>But no, for a second later, the thing moved again, and as Anakin looked up with squinted eyes, he realized that what he saw was not one shape, but two: a thin, barely-clad, orange-skinned Torgruta accompanied by a familiar tattooed Zabrak.</p><p>Anakin felt the blood drain from his face as he made eye contact with Ahsoka. It was them, together, and they were standing awfully close, as if they were more accustomed to each other physically than Anakin would have imagined.</p><p>He felt a tight rage creep up from the base of his throat and into his mouth as he watched them. Ahsoka was barely wearing anything, not much more than an undergarment for a top and a two-legged skirt that was far too short. Anakin would have never let her wear anything like that back at the Jedi Temple. He gave a small sigh. That was the least of their issues.</p><p>“Ahsoka!” he called to where the two figures stood, staring at him from the ledge that jutted out of a cave’s opening. “Ahsoka, it’s me! Anakin! Please, can we just talk?”</p><p>Ahsoka laughed, sneering at him; he could see her expression clearly even though she was high above him. “You want to talk, Anakin? After all you put me through? After neglecting me and watching me fall without doing a single thing?” Her nostrils flared, and for the first time, Anakin felt a small stab of fear. She’d been trained by <em> him </em>, Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, the most elementally powerful Jedi. It was not arrogance in which he thought this, but simple truth. Ahsoka had been his padawan, and she was more dangerous than he gave her credit for.</p><p>“It’s better than nothing,” he finally said to her. “Talking, I mean. I don’t want to hurt you.”</p><p>“<em> You </em> ? Don’t want to hurt <em> me </em>?” Her laugh was bitter and cruel, and it grated against Anakin’s ears in all its false amusement. The Ahsoka he knew would have never acted this way. He had only seen this side of her once, back in Mortis, a barely fleshed-out memory, and at the time, he had thought that she was simply being manipulated or possessed by the Brother. It seemed he had been wrong, for right now she was almost exactly the same way. Even the cadence of her mocking voice was the same as it had been all those years ago.</p><p>Maul murmured something inscrutable in her montral, and Ahsoka scrunched up her face in annoyance. But the next moment, Anakin was sure that he’d imagined it, for now her visage was smooth and serene as she smiled coldly down at him, the sight filling him with an indescribable amount of pain. Ahsoka Tano, his padawan beloved by all the Jedi masters, talented and crazy and wild, was gone. In her place was a twisted creature, a flood of whirling emotions, most of them negative and most prevalent among them hate.</p><p>It filled Anakin with immeasurable sadness. He felt hot tears slipping down his face, an unfamiliar sensation that he hadn’t felt since he was ten years old and leaving his mother on Tatooine. Even when Ahsoka had left the order, he had managed to hold himself together, but Anakin just <em> couldn’t </em>anymore. He felt like his child had been stolen from him by a monster.</p><p>And judging by the smirk on Maul’s face, perhaps this was literally true.</p><p>Now Ahsoka was coming down to him, lifted in the air by Maul’s outstretched hand as he carried her down with the Force, Ahsoka helping him to the ground right after. She was the picture of ethereal grace with her arms outstretched, unlit sabers in each hand as she descended, face lifted to the sky.</p><p>When she reached the ground, however, and Maul stood beside her, grin feral, he wondered how he’d thought her Dark self to be ethereal at all. Ahsoka’s face was warped in a grimace that somehow radiated excitement, her lekku flicking lightly against her chest as the energy inside her waited to be released.</p><p>Anakin prepared himself, for he was sure that they were about to duel, two-on-two—</p><p>“Let’s give them that show we planned,” Ahsoka hissed at Maul, eyes burning a fiery Sith gold. As she dropped her sabers to the ground and tore off her top, Anakin averted his eyes, gasping, and he saw Obi-Wan do the same. The two of them looked at each other, stunned. This was—this was—</p><p>“Squeamish, masters?” Ahsoka asked nonchalantly, but Anakin wouldn’t look. This was meant to be private, and with <em> Maul </em>of all people...it was obscene. Just how far would the Sith go to amplify their power? Or was that even a part of the equation anymore?</p><p>Suddenly, however, he felt his gaze being drawn back to the pair of Dark Side users before him, and he couldn’t look away. “What are you doing?” Anakin choked, although he already knew. He and Obi-Wan would be forced to watch this indecency, and there would be nothing they could do to stop it.</p><p>***</p><p>Maul revelled in the way that Ahsoka looked before him, eyes reflecting the intangible light of the lava surrounding them and the magma that undoubtedly flowed beneath the rock they stood on. It was intoxicating, that heavy, heady gaze, and he had to stop himself from tearing into her and feasting on her all at once. No, he had to move slowly, methodically, teasingly. Not only for the benefit of his young apprentice, but also for the destruction of the two Jedi that knelt watching them with eyes that couldn’t be torn away from the lovely sight that was about to occur.</p><p>“Lady Ignis?” he asked, voice soft.</p><p>“Yes, master?” At her words, Maul felt a wave of possessiveness curdle in his gut, the feeling only amplified by Anakin Skywalker’s unhidden gasp. Maybe then, the Chosen One was a fool. What had he expected? For them to be best friends? No, Ahsoka would be Maul’s apprentice at least for the time being, for she was still not well-versed in the Darkness of the Sith arts. Maybe a day would come when they would be equals, but that time was not now.</p><p>“You are ravishing,” Maul murmured, grabbing her ass and drawing her against him. He felt the tips of his horns spike with pleasure, and he thanked the Force that though he’d lost his lower body, he at least could feel his arousal somewhere. At his words, Ahsoka closed her eyes, and he felt a tear slip down her cheek. Maul quickly wiped it away, giving her a light kiss on the lips, so different from his usual rough attentions. “What is wrong, my dear?”</p><p>Ahsoka only shook her head. “Not here,” she said. “Not now.” Though Maul could easily guess at her hesitation; he had often felt it himself, that he could not believe he was where he was, doing what he was doing. He hoped that her crying was more out of surprise than fear or sadness.</p><p>A moment later, her nails were raking down his face, and it was like the past few seconds hadn’t happened at all. “Ahsoka,” Maul moaned, pinching her ass and grinning wickedly when she let out a yelp. “I’m in control here, apprentice.”</p><p>“Y-you’re in control,” his lady murmured shakily, eyes lifting to meet his. “What can I do to please you, master?”</p><p>“Do everything I say,” Maul spat, feeling himself excite further. He grabbed her wrist and spun her around, slapping her buttcheeks. Ahsoka let out a squeal, doubling over in pain. “That hurts, my Lord!”</p><p>“Do you want me to stop?” It was a challenge, for if she had wanted him to, he wouldn’t really care. And at this point, he knew that she knew that, too.</p><p>“No, I want it!” Ahsoka—no, Lady Ignis—wailed, thrashing her limbs as he picked her up and lay her over his arms, tearing off her small skirt to reveal buttocks that were a slightly paler shade of orange-brown than the rest of her. Maul heard Skywalker let out a choked sob from where he knelt and began to laugh uncontrollably. The Hero With No Fear, fallen so low. It brought him pleasure that he hadn’t expected.</p><p>Kenobi, on the other hand, was silent, eyes rimmed red with tears that had long dried up, expressionless and numb, offering no resistance, unlike Skywalker, who was struggling against his invisible bonds. He stared at Maul with the usual intensity, and Maul wondered what it would take to break the Jedi. Perhaps, perhaps… He saw the stern, empty gaze on Kenobi’s face and knew that he was not broken yet. This relationship he had with Ignis was certainly devastating to Skywalker, but something else was needed for the older Jedi.</p><p>Maul slapped his lady’s ass, relishing her scream of pain as she flailed in his arms. He rubbed the skin there lightly before spanking her again, harder this time. “Master!” he heard her plead, and his horns flared with the desperation in her voice. He almost thought that she was going to beg him to stop. But then— “Hit me harder!”</p><p>Maul felt a tightening throughout his body as he did just that, again and again, revelling in her high-pitched Togruta shrieks. He thought that he might just come from her reactions, and it only helped that Skywalker was sobbing like a pathetic child in front of them, prostrated on the ground as he should be…</p><p>Of course, he could not come in the usual way, as he didn’t have a dick. But Maul could still feel the release of pressure that tore through him and the sense of satisfaction that it afforded afterwards. The bonus was that since he didn’t rely on the physical organ that males of his species had, he could achieve orgasm multiple times.</p><p>Lady Ignis keened softly, as if almost begging. “You want to come?” Maul whispered to her, voice deadly soft. “Are you so pathetic that you need to be satisfied right here and now in front of your former master and grandmaster like a common whore?” He wiggled his fingers so that he could stroke between her already soaked folds, and when he reached her clit, she began to whine again. He slipped a finger within her and groaned as she tightened around him, the feeling so blissfully perfect.</p><p>“I need—Maul I need—”</p><p>“What is it you need, Lady Ignis?”</p><p>“I need something <em> bigger </em> ,” she whined. “My little cunt needs to be torn open and ravished and—!” Her exclamation dissolved into a heady pant.</p><p>He had flipped her over again, tightness filling him at her words, and unbuckled his dual-bladed lightsaber from his hip. “Ahsoka,” he murmured, voice greedy, not caring that he was using her real name. “I’m going to fuck you with my saber.”</p><p>He pumped in and out of her with his finger a few times, then licked her wetness from it, enjoying the salty bitter taste as always. He looked down to see her eyes widen at the sight of his Sith weapon, for it was not smooth, but instead had hard parts that stuck out, little buttons and dials and some simple designs. It was also extremely long, and had the added danger of accidentally being turned on if the wrong switch was activated. But he saw, too, the excitement in her eyes, as he lined it up to her dripping cunt and began to push it in, eliciting low groans from his lady.</p><p>“Ahsoka, STOP!” Skywalker howled, and Maul grimaced. He had almost forgotten that the fool was there. With a flick of his hand, the human was silenced, though his eyes were wide with protest.</p><p>“Deeper!” Ahsoka cried, and Maul set her on the ground so that he could get more leverage, being careful to keep the activation switch in sight. She reached up and caressed his horns, making him moan. At the sound, Ahsoka grinned maliciously, stroking him again, but he grabbed her wrist, pinning it to the rock below them. “Now is not the time, my dear.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Master,” his lady pouted, allowing him to push his saber in deeper. Then, with a sigh, he began pumping it, all the while rubbing her clit with his other hand. Ahsoka screamed as the textured weapon tore at her walls, her hands scrambling for purchase on the rock without much success. “Lord Maul!”</p><p>“Yes, Lady Ignis!” his breaths were coming faster now, and he could feel his second orgasm approaching.</p><p>“You fuck me so good!” she cried. “It hurts! You’re making me bleed!”</p><p>She was, in fact, bleeding, the liquid seeping from her cunt out onto the dark rock. He supposed it was because of the hard angles and sharp protruding buttons on his lightsaber, but he didn’t really care. She was <em> his </em>, his alone, his little apprentice to do what he wished with.</p><p>“Fuck!” screamed Ignis again, and he pumped in and out of her even faster. “I’m going to—”</p><p>“Come for your masters, my apprentice,” Maul rasped, and he fucked her through her orgasm, relishing Skywalker’s cry of fury and Ahsoka’s open-mouth ecstasy. If there was a heaven after death, Maul thought, this must be it. At the sight of it all, he felt his own peak approaching, and he reached up to his horns to stroke them furiously. A few seconds later, true bliss was pouring through him, and he collapsed on top of Ahsoka, letting his saber fall to the side, but keeping his mental grip on Skywalker and Kenobi.</p><p>He allowed himself five seconds of panting on top of her, relishing how her small body felt almost fragile under him. Lady Ignis had her eyes closed, her arms splayed out to the side, the tips of her fingers brushing her discarded bottoms. It would have been all so wonderfully perfect, Skywalker broken and terrible in a duel, Kenobi too, if the latter had taken this the same way.</p><p>But he hadn’t.</p><p>The man who had cut off Maul’s legs was still stoic, and though he seemed obviously shaken, he wasn’t a pathetic shaking mess like Skywalker was. Maul growled as he stood up, stalking around the kneeling pair, his own metal legs making it easy for him to just get up and walk around right after a hard fucking.</p><p>“Kenobi,” he snarled, angry at the man’s refusal to be broken. “I always knew you were a better Jedi than Skywalker.” It was true, in a sense. Obi-Wan Kenobi never let his sentiments take control of the situation, never let his passions override his duty. Maul could almost admire it, if he didn’t think that the choice was so utterly stupid, and so typical of a trained Jedi.</p><p>“You have no idea what I am about to do to you,” Maul sneered at him, tilting the man’s chin up with his fingers. He had to admit, he loved the soft tickly feeling of Kenobi’s beard against his skin, not to mention the hollow look that Kenobi was giving him. He would make this far too easy.</p><p>“I have a guess,” Kenobi muttered, but his usual spark of humor even in the darkest of situations was missing. Nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Maul and Ahsoka fucking like a pair of banthas in heat. He wasn’t broken, or at least not as far as Maul could sense, but there was no levity in the situation. Not for him, though Maul and Ahsoka were certainly having a good time.</p><p>Suddenly, his Lady Ignis was standing behind them, and he was a tad disappointed to see that she had replaced her clothing. “Ah, my apprentice,” Maul practically purred, drawing her beside him with a hand on her butt. “You will get to enjoy the show.”</p><p>She raised one eyebrow—well, more like one of her white Togruta markings. “I thought we were the ones putting on a show for my former masters,” she muttered, though without resentment. His deadly apprentice sounded excited, though she tried to hide it under a thick layer of her usual sarcasm. “I had no knowledge of this.”</p><p>“Trust me,” Maul hissed, caressing her face and leaving a chaste kiss on her cheekbone, “you will appreciate what I am about to show you.” He turned away, hesitating only a moment before he struck Kenobi, the always untouchable, always pure, always elusive Kenobi, across the cheek. The Jedi flinched and let out a cry of pain, but otherwise did nothing, slowly looking back at him.</p><p>Maul sneered again, hating that beautiful face, hating that perfect stoicism that wouldn’t bow to him. He could duel Kenobi here and now, but he wasn’t a fool, and he knew that the Jedi master was stronger than him, more powerful. He needed to weaken him first. He needed to break him. “Are you not going to stop me?” Maul asked mockingly, though he knew very well that Kenobi could not move amidst the bonds that he and Ahsoka had placed upon him. It was two against one, for Skywalker was still an emotional mess on the ground at Kenobi’s side. He was useless. <em> Pathetic </em>.</p><p>Kenobi frowned, and Maul wrinkled his nose. He did not like to see such an ugly expression on that pretty, delicate face. “Unrobe yourself!” Maul suddenly snarled, summoning his still-come-covered saber to his hand and igniting it. He saw a muscle twitch in Kenobi’s cheek, but the Jedi did as he was told, removing layer after layer, albeit slowly.</p><p>“Faster! You are trying my patience, Kenobi!” Maul growled, pointing one end of his saber at the Jedi’s neck. Again, Kenobi did not react, only pursing his lips and doing as he was told. As he did so, Maul cackled, and he heard a not-quite disbelieving chuckle from Lady Ignis behind him as well. “You will offer no resistance, <em> darling </em>?” He spat back what he knew was Kenobi’s preferred form of endearment as if it was a dirty word, narrowing his eyes. “One would almost think that you want this.”</p><p>Kenobi almost looked as if he was going to respond, the typical banter lifting to his lips out of habit, before Maul saw him push it back down again. “I have my <em> darlings </em>with me,” his little Jedi replied, this time using the word reverently, almost a prayer. A title bestowed upon emperors. Maul saw him glance over to Skywalker, huddled against the hot rock, and up into the sky as well. He wasn’t sure what that meant. “This means nothing to me,” Kenobi finished simply.</p><p>“But do you really believe that?” This time, it was his lady who had spoken, tilting her head to one side as she studied her former grandmaster. “What would Padmé and Anakin think? And what about poor Duchess Satine?” Ignis smirked, for Kenobi had just flinched. Finally, they were beginning to crawl under his skin. “Oh Obi-Wan,” she whispered, running the backs of her fingers along the side of his cheek with a pout on her lips, as if she was regretful, “you are still so easy to read.”</p><p>Although he didn’t want to admit it, Maul was actually quite proud of his little apprentice. She was becoming quite the Sith, with her charms and her sadistic glee. She was going to watch Kenobi suffer, just as he had suffered when Maul killed Satine. But <em> this </em>? This would be so much more fun.</p><p>Finally, Kenobi stood naked before them, his body smooth and stiff as newly manufactured durasteel. Maul knew that stance; it was that of a proud general. He would need to think of something creative to hurt him. He smirked, lowering himself to his knees before Kenobi and taking his still-soft cock in his warm hands. Kenobi gasped, jutting his lips forward slightly when Maul stroked him the right way, cock hardening in his grip. “So you do like this, don’t you?”</p><p>Kenobi’s stoic mask fell just a tad; Maul could see composure slipping as his treacherous body responded to Maul’s touch. It was a clear betrayal, and though Kenobi whined for more, Maul could see that he didn’t want this. The knowledge brought him a vindictive pleasure as he smeared Kenobi’s precum along his hard length, relishing the way that the Jedi bucked into his hands as Maul shushed him sweetly. Behind him, his sinful Lady Ignis was stroking his horns lazily, sending greater rushes of pleasure through him.</p><p>“Obi-Wan?” Skywalker had sat up, his pitiful crying finished, and he was now staring at them, just having realized what was happening. “Obi-Wan, how could you? Why are you—?”</p><p>He was silenced by Lady Ignis, who had immediately thrown out her hand and was currently squeezing her thumb and forefinger together, shutting off her old master’s air supply. It was a very well done Force Choke, and Maul found himself proud of his little apprentice despite himself. “Take care of him,” he growled to Ignis, who nodded at him once and drew her sabers.</p><p>Maul turned his attention back to Kenobi, who was still keening pitifully before him, and he smirked. His apprentice and Skywalker were of no consequence right now, for he had no doubt that she could defeat her former master. The question for him to answer now was whether Kenobi could be so easily seduced.</p><p>He wasted no time in lowering his mouth to Kenobi’s dick, allowing the Jedi master to push himself into his throat. In his mind, Maul sighed. If there was a way for them to be in the opposite position, with Maul’s own cock in Kenobi’s unwilling mouth, throbbing and hard and unstoppable, he would have done it in a second. Unfortunately, this was not possible, and Maul’s own arousal could only be caused by the power he was exerting over his nemesis, not through physical means.</p><p>“Anakin,” he heard Kenobi mumble, and the name made him smile as he sucked his cock. “Oh, Anakin!”</p><p>Maul almost wanted to laugh. It seemed in his own passion that he had manipulated the way that the Force was moving around Kenobi through their bond, and it was a very powerful hallucination-type shift that his dear nemesis was experiencing. It hadn’t been intentional; all he had wanted was to force Kenobi to be fucked, to not put up any resistance, to be broken by his own undoing. And out of that desire, sent into the Force like a twisted curse emitted from the mouth of Mother Talzin, had come this. Had he perhaps gained some of her power? Or was it something totally different?</p><p>Maul didn’t have much time to dwell on it, for his time was running out. “Won’t you come for me?” he asked the man standing above him, inflecting his voice as much as he could to sound like Kenobi’s dear Chosen One.</p><p>And Kenobi did, his semen spilling free into Maul’s mouth as he let out a cry. The mask had all but disappeared, and Maul felt a tight satisfaction as he swallowed the Jedi’s essence enthusiastically. He couldn’t lie; he had been waiting for this moment for a long time, even as the desire to kill Obi-Wan Kenobi had pushed him near to the border of insanity. Kenobi was <em> his </em>. His to fuck. His to torture. His to kill. But killing him would be a mercy.</p><p>Slowly, his little Jedi opened his eyes, horror filling them when he realized what he had just done. “No…” he whispered, pulling back as his dick softened. “You’re not—you’re—”</p><p>Maul released a soft laugh, aware of the spell his voice put on others. Aware of the beauty it possessed. But he was not trying to seduce Kenobi anymore; no, that had been done and accomplished well. This was instead a laugh of victory, of self-satisfied pleasure, of joy in someone else’s misery.</p><p>He was twisted; he knew that. But he didn’t care.</p><p>***</p><p>Ahsoka dueled Anakin. Anakin dueled Ahsoka. The important part was that Ahsoka had been right—her former master was deeply weakened by what he had just witnessed, and of course, the whole experience had only made her stronger. She relished the way that he looked at her in horror, the way that his eyes seemed to burn into her with that fiery ferocity.</p><p>She was so glad that he had picked himself up off the ground and decided to fight her, for she much preferred the usual overzealous Anakin to the weeping crybaby Anakin. She even preferred him at his most murderous state, and she hoped that that’s where he was now, for she would show him his place.</p><p>“Anakin...are you quite alright?” Her voice was sickly sweet, dripping with poisonous honey as she slashed her sabers towards him and only just blocked by Anakin’s parry. Ahsoka easily fought him off, using her passions to fuel her. Unlike Obi-Wan, however, Anakin was mostly ruled by his sentiments, always emotions over logic, and she knew that he was subconsciously using the Sith principles of passion and power. He was proving to be a more difficult opponent than she had expected, but he was the Chosen One, after all.</p><p>What did that even mean anymore? Was he the one, perhaps, to destroy Ahsoka and Maul? Or had he already killed <em> Sidious </em>? Ahsoka shook her head, zoning in on their duel. None of it mattered. She would destroy Anakin here and now, and he would regret ever abandoning her.</p><p>“Ahsoka,” he said to her, barely a whisper. They were making their way down one side of the volcanic mountain along the river, their feet finding purchase among the textured rocks, never sliding and always sure. The imperfect Jedi apprentices, the ones the Council had always looked down upon. Anakin was more similar to her than she wished to admit, but that would not stand in Ahsoka’s way.</p><p>“Why are you doing this?” Anakin continued, blue eyes shining with the lava’s light. They were following the course of the bright orange river, and it put them in a precarious position. Somehow, Ahsoka would use this to her advantage.</p><p>“I made a choice,” Ahsoka said to him firmly, allowing her voice to lose some of that faux-dulcet tone. “And you made yours. You chose to let me walk away from the Jedi Order, and you let the Council treat us like bantha shit. You put this upon yourself!”</p><p>He lowered his lightsaber and she stepped back, scrutinizing him. He was so utterly dejected that she almost wanted to take pity on him, except, of course, that it had all been his fault. Without him and the stifling nature of the Order, she would still be a Light Side user, content in her place in the galaxy.</p><p>“But do you want <em> this </em>?” Anakin whispered, and without him saying so, she knew that he meant a life at Maul’s side. A life of being second-best, always the apprentice and never the master. A life of discontent and despotism and selfishness and cruelty.</p><p>But Ahsoka had decided this already, when she had taken Maul’s hand in the Mandalorian throne room. Yes, she wanted this. Power was the only thing left for her, since everyone else had left her. The Dark Side whispered through her veins, and it had made her limited options clear. She had chosen this path, and now Anakin would choose his.</p><p>“Thank you for what you taught me,” Ahsoka said to him, and she <em> was </em>in fact grateful. “But now you are going to suffer for what you did.” His treason against her hadn’t even been terrible, but her hate had festered over time, and now it was almost unbearable.</p><p>Without warning, Ahsoka let loose a torrent of strikes with her lightsabers, leaving Anakin virtually no time to react. He howled as she cut a slice of flesh from his arm, clutching the simmering wound carefully. That had been his dominant side. He responded quickly then, working with his other arm as best he could, for he indeed was well-trained, however Ahsoka already had the upper hand—Anakin was emotionally <em> and </em>physically weakened at this point, and he wouldn’t be able to stand against her much longer.</p><p>She drove him down the side of the volcano, her moves becoming quicker, easier—she was falling into a rhythm, and her raw emotional strength allowed her to push him farther with a faster flurry of positions than she’d ever done before. Soon, Anakin was standing on the edge of the riverbank, his robes dangerously close to the fiery lava. She could sense that he was exhausted, that he wouldn’t be able to hold up much longer. Ahsoka smirked. How far her old master had fallen. He really was losing his touch. “Goodbye, Anakin,” she said to him, letting the sweetness slip back into her voice naturally. Then, just as he was about to reach out to her, she kicked him to the side, and he fell alongside the lava river, grunting.</p><p>She wondered how long it would take for him to catch fire.</p><p>Ahsoka laughed as she ran back up the slope, leaving her former master to suffer painfully and die slowly in his last few minutes of life. She did not regret it, for the Dark Side was one with her now, and she had no desire to ever go back. Her <em> new </em>master, Darth Maul, was waiting for her up above.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>
  <i>chapter warnings: EXTREMELY dubious consent via oral, non-consensual voyeurism (on the account that those watching are being forced to), torture</i>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>I have to give credit to where credit is due—the idea for Obi-Wan and Anakin (mainly obi wan) being forced to watch Maulsoka have sex in order to weaken them comes from Saricess’s Maulsoka fic <i>Break</i>. And the idea of Maul using his saber to fuck Ahsoka comes from kassanovella’s kylo ren/reader fic <i>Fix Your Attitude</i> (which is famous so you probably have heard of it already). I highly recommend both of these fics!</p><p>This chapter was meant to have another section as well, but it was getting horrendously long (for my usual chapter length at least lol) and so I saved it for the next update. Which means, of course, that you have to deal with this sad, angst-ridden chapter ending. Sorry, not sorry:P</p><p>What happened to Obi-Wan can either be interpreted as dubcon or noncon, but there's going to be more fucked up stuff ahead...so beware.</p><p>In case anyone was wondering (no one has but just in case), the reason why ahsoka and maul could feel the death of sidious but not anakin and obi-wan was because they were more attuned to those following the dark side. Same thing goes for the light—why anakin and obi-wan were able to sense order 66 but it didn’t occur to maul and ahsoka!</p><p>Also, i’m starting the semester in a few days, so it’s going to be pretty hectic considering that i’ll be starting to learn Korean and taking quite a few english and writing courses. Not to mention all those fic requests I have to fulfill. I’ll also be applying to colleges, so I’ll be writing a lot of application essays. All this writing for english, fiction writing, and college apps means that I won’t be able to update as often as in the summer, but I will never give up on this fic! I promise you that! This is my favorite fanfiction to write and I will not let uni get in the way:)</p><p>Thank you to all of you who have left comments so far; I love you so much and you always make my day&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The New Empire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>While Maul and Ahsoka assume their place in the galaxy, Ahsoka faces some internal struggle.<br/>Padmé finds Obi-Wan and Anakin.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>hey lovelies! it's been awhile! i'll talk more at the end, but i just want to say that my birthday was a month ago! and now I'm the same age as ahsoka in this fic:)<br/>also, i made a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37y3Z81rcti7fZPNFuW6ai?si=k0kPNU_sTwSzQDM8r-rbmQ">playlist</a> for this fic a few months before i actually started writing it and i thought, eh, why not share it with you guys? so here ya go! (apologies if I've already shared it lmao) note: it's not necessarily a reading playlist, just a ~ vibes ~ playlist, and it's really all about the maulsoka relationship here, not obianidala. but maybe i will add some songs for them soon, because they are more than just a side relationship in this fic! (as you know)</p><p>not going to lie, i'm quite happy with this chapter! please let me know what you think of it when you get to the end!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maul still had that enticing secretive smile on his face when Ahsoka returned from her duel with Anakin, and she felt calm and poised despite the knowledge of what she had just done. Obi-Wan had disappeared from the site, and she had just condemned Anakin to die, to burn to death. Most likely, he was just a pile of burnt flesh and settling ashes at this point. The thought made something dark and earthy, like a vine or a tendril, creep through Ahsoka’s stomach, and she clenched the muscles throughout her body at the unexpected spike of excitement that coursed through her. She had <em> killed </em>; she had pleased her master; she was on her way to becoming the most powerful Sith the galaxy had ever seen. After all...if she was so young even now, what could she accomplish in a few years?</p><p>The thought was stark and startling, and Ahsoka had to pull her face into a blank expression so that Maul would not spy her realization. She had just thought of herself as becoming the <em> most powerful Sith </em> . The <em> most </em>. She had assumed that one day she would eclipse her master, overcome Darth Maul—</p><p>That was the history of the Sith, after all, but Ahsoka found herself strangely afraid by the aspect. She wasn’t afraid to kill Maul, no, for she did not shirk away from the anticipation of murder on her hands or even being entangled in a relationship with him. She did not love Maul; she only felt raw power and passion when it came to him, and she was sure that that was all it would ever be.</p><p>It was solely the thought of being the master of the universe, the Dark Lord or Lady that controlled the galaxy, that made Ahsoka want to hide in a little hole under one of Mustafar’s deep caves and retreat back to the Light. She simply did not want that responsibility, that level of power without anyone’s help. And of course, if she took an apprentice, then they would have the same urge to take her place that she now had towards Maul.</p><p>She felt as if she had swallowed a lemon whole. How was she to continue this way in subservience to him when she harbored such—<em> mutinous </em> —thoughts? Perhaps his physical attention to her was a reward in and of itself, but Ahsoka couldn’t help but feel that she needed <em> more… </em></p><p>As if on cue, the young apprentice felt something prod at her brain, a newly familiar presence. A presence molded carefully over years of neglect and festering hatred. Maul. The Sith Lord had reached into her brain, pulling from her the very thoughts that she had sought so hard to hide from him. She gasped as they fell away from her mind’s grip, crumpling to the hard, dark rock. “Wait—” she began.</p><p>Maul only laughed a low, silvery laugh, his yellow eyes flashing with—<em> amusement </em>, was it? “Oh, my dear little Torgruta,” he said, leaning forward and cupping her chin in his hand, his hold on her tightening to a vice like grip on her jaw. Ahsoka squirmed, but her master only smiled. “None of this is a surprise to me,” Maul murmured, raising his eyebrows just slightly and twisting his lips into a smile that was more of a snarl than anything else. “You think I wouldn’t know that my own apprentice wants to kill me? You think I am ignorant of the traditions of my kind?”</p><p>Ahsoka could have laughed if her heart hadn’t been beating so quickly. He called brutal murder a <em> tradition </em> ? Then again, what else could she expect from a Sith? <em> I am a Sith </em> , Ahsoka reminded herself before her thoughts slipped again. <em> I should be mindful of those ‘traditions,’ too </em>. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to force her facial muscles to relax despite Maul’s painful grip and the feeling of his thin fingers digging into her skin and pinching her bones. She honestly was ashamed, for just a few minutes ago, she had been besting the Chosen One in a duel, saber aligned with her core, more focused and at ease than ever before.</p><p>Now she felt weak, low. Put in her place, and with the not-so-subtle notion that this is where she <em> belonged </em>, in such a lesser class.</p><p>No. <em> Stop </em>. “Get out of my head!” Ahsoka screamed, her voice finding its way to the surface before her consciousness of the situation could. Maul only chuckled, pressing his lips to hers forcefully and tongue jutting out without warning, unwelcome and unsolicited. Ahsoka squirmed again, but now she felt her body lock up as Maul pressed into her, driving her back until she was pressed to the cave wall that she and Maul had been inside of just before Anakin and Obi-Wan had arrived. Despite herself, she felt heat pooling below her stomach and bucked her hips forward. Laughing, Maul pulled back, still gripping her wrist and holding her at an arm’s length.</p><p>“You are irresistible, my dear Lady Tano,” he whispered.</p><p>Ahsoka glared at him, willing her countenance to remain as cold as possible. “I know,” she replied shortly. She bit her lip before the rest of her intended words could come flying from her traitorous mouth, and her hand ticked angrily against her bare thigh as she thought the words instead. <em> But that doesn’t mean you can take what you want from me </em>.</p><p>Maul narrowed his eyes, lips curling with amusement. <em> Shavit </em>, Ahsoka thought. He had read her mind again, and his hold on her physically and through the Force was the only thing that kept her from hurling herself at him, dual lightsabers criss-crossing across his throat. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to kill him or fuck him, and the duality of it all was making her head hurt.</p><p>Then, suddenly, his grip on her person changed, and Ahsoka found that she could move a finger—then two, and those hands of hers were finally <em> hers </em>again. She pressed her lips together, however, and made herself stay still. She wouldn’t let her emotions take over. She wouldn’t attack Maul; she wouldn’t—</p><p>A raw sensation overtook her then, and all her thoughts were cast to the side. None of it mattered. She wanted Maul with a fierce hunger, and she wanted him in every single karking way possible. First, she’d have him on his knees, her own legs wrapped around his neck and back as he ate her out like his life depended on it—worshipping his little apprentice as a good master <em> should </em>—and then as she came with his tongue inside of her, fingers gripping his horns to steady herself from shuddering and falling from his shoulders, she’d allow herself to think of something beyond sexual control of him.</p><p>Maul laughed softly, and with a start, she realized that he’d planted this image in her mind, and her mind had seized it and ran with it. Ahsoka snarled at him, but she couldn’t deny what she wanted. It didn’t matter that what she desired was what he desired as well, and Ahsoka was sure that Maul was at least a little entranced by the mutiny of her imaginings. He was fucking with danger, flirting with death, and knowing this only made Ahsoka feel more on edge and aroused. She could feel a wetness leaking from her, and her assumption was confirmed when Maul’s eyes dropped to her pussy, sensing her though she wore her barely-covering clothes, his yellow flashing in the darkness.</p><p>“This is why you’ll never overcome me,” he whispered. “You need me, Lady Ignis.”</p><p>Ahsoka swallowed. She loved her title, and yet a part of her <em> missed </em> Maul’s breathy caress of her real name, back when he had called her <em> Lady Tano </em> and <em> Ahsoka </em>. It hadn’t even been a day, and she was already harboring regrets?</p><p>No, that wasn’t it. But she felt as if she was lying to herself. It was a fake name and she didn’t want to bear it. Maul had himself, his own name, his own person. But Ahsoka didn’t. Crossing her arms over herself, she kept silent, unwilling to upset her master further. “I don’t need you,” she said instead. “You told me you cared about me. That you wouldn’t use me…”</p><p>Maul shook his head, not responding to her words, his eyes narrowed in amusement, the muscles of his upper body rippling as he walked closer to her, scooping Ahsoka in his arms as if she was no heavier than a feather and carrying her across the rough terrain. She could feel acutely where his arm wrapped around her breast and fingers lazily stroked her. It was a pleasant sensation, though she still knew his thoughts behind the action. Her body belonged to him, and she had allowed herself to fall into this position. She was here, yes, to be taught and pleasured by him, to rule at his side, but she still was under his control, and his promise of equality had been a lie.</p><p>She couldn’t deny, however, that a part of her loved this subservience.</p><p>“We make haste for Coruscant,” Maul murmured as they reached their ship that they had arrived on. “The galaxy waits for us. For you, my dear.”</p><p>Ahsoka felt the urge to scoff. His pretenses of their equality were false, as she had witnessed, but that didn’t mean that her body didn’t desire his words. She shifted in his grip as he carried her, bridal style, onto the ship, and in her squirming, Maul’s fingers were touching her inner thigh, just below her pussy. Ahsoka let out a small pant, and Maul sneered. “Patience, apprentice.”</p><p>“Isn’t that a Jedi trait?” she shot back, but stopped anyway. They were in the cockpit now, and Maul set her gently on her seat as if she was a fragile piece of China. Against his large frame, she supposed that he was, but it still irked her that he saw her as little and insignificant. Or maybe it was an act on his part. The thought struck a further idea in her head, and Ahsoka wondered if she might be able to play into that assumption of his, make him believe that she wasn’t to be feared. That he was more powerful than her, and that she was subservient to him.</p><p>Ahsoka smiled, placing a hand over her mouth in a mock-yawn. She would have to bury her every thought where Maul’s grip couldn’t reach, but at least his invisible presence stayed away from her for now. In the meantime she would train her brain to resist infiltration. Starting now.</p><p>***</p><p>They arrived at the capital planet and city not long after, silent as they travelled through hyperspace and made their landing. Ahsoka was expecting to have to go through a security checkpoint, as usual, but the usual Jedi patrol wasn’t there. A few moments later, Ahsoka saw their dead bodies lying on the pavement a few meters away. It looked like they were trying to run, but from what, she wasn’t able to tell.</p><p>Maul piloted them to the landing pad and they docked their ship by the Jedi Temple, for that would be their first target. It was eerily silent, however, and as the two of them exited the ship and walked along the high plateau that overlooked the city, the only thing she could hear was the whistling sound of the wind tearing between Coruscant’s skyscrapers, and the only movement she could see were the faint lights of the city, emitting from speeders on the airways and the clustered buildings below. The lack of life sent a chill through her, but she didn’t shiver, allowing the goosebumps to stand out on her orange skin. Maul couldn’t see the evidence of her fear, anyway—he was walking ahead of her.</p><p>They entered the Temple, again with a surprising lack of guards. A minute later, Ahsoka could see why. Dead bodies of Jedi Masters and Knights were littered around the front entryway to the Temple, all with their lightsabers drawn and cast on the tile beside them, but the lasers unlit. Blaster holes were evident through their clothes and body, but as Ahsoka and Maul walked further inside the building, there were further anomalies. Children, younglings, were spread around the fountain, their bodies making a path to the training rooms, where even the youngest and their blinder-helmets were lying on the ground, dead, the last traces of fear etched into their faces.</p><p>“Someone did our job for us,” she said through gritted teeth, though she was certainly unhappy about the situation with the younglings. She would have liked to train them up in the ways of the Sith, making her and Maul virtually unstoppable.</p><p>“I knew it,” Maul said quietly from where he was standing, staring down at a Gungan youngling. “Sidious enacted his plan. The plan I told you about. With Skywalker.”</p><p>“With Anakin?” Ahsoka repeated, and she immediately cursed herself for using his first name. She wasn’t close to him anymore. “I mean—he seemed pretty much on the Light Side when I left him on Mustafar. He couldn’t have done this.”</p><p>“Then Sidious did it without the help of the Chosen One,” Maul said. “All the Jedi are dead. Killed by the clones.”</p><p>Ahsoka’s head spun. Maul had been right. He’d been right this entire time, and the Sith had won. It was meant to be a good thing, but she couldn’t help feel a little disappointed, and she had an inkling of a thought that Maul might be feeling the same way. This had been their mutual project, their goal. But Sidious had gotten there first.</p><p>“Do you think he could still be alive?”</p><p>Ahsoka looked up at Maul’s words, taken aback by his uncertainty. The lack of confidence was disarming, and it showed on his countenance, from the slight ripple in his forehead to the tight, thin line of his lips. <em> Could </em>Sidious still have managed to live? They had felt his presence blink out in the Force, in the balance between Dark and Light. But it was possible that they could have been wrong.</p><p>“We need to see the evidence that he’s truly gone,” Ahsoka said after a moment. “We should go to the Senate building.”</p><p>Maul nodded, and Ahsoka realized what else was bothering her. They had felt Darth Sidious disappear, but not the <em> entire existence </em> of the Jedi…</p><p>What had been wrong with them?</p><p>“I need to be more vigilant,” Maul said to her as they made their way back from the Jedi Temple and jump-started a spare speeder. “I let the Jedi Order fall without even taking notice.”</p><p>Ahsoka swallowed. <em> Did he read my mind again? </em> she wondered, but it made sense that her master would be facing the same dilemma of self-assurance as she was, probably even more so. “I know,” she replied with a sigh. “How could we have missed it?”</p><p>Maul wouldn’t look at her, even though at this point her own eyes were burning into him. “I think I was...preoccupied...by your finalizing turn to the Dark Side,” he said quietly, and Ahsoka smirked without much amusement when she determined his meaning. He had been too busy getting off to the sight of her struggling to bleed her lightsabers red and go through her spiritual trial. The thought didn’t disgust her as much as she had thought it would, though.</p><p>They sped through the sky, the distance not far from the Jedi Temple to Coruscant’s governmental sector. Ahsoka’s mind was beginning to settle, and their methodical approach to assuming control of the galaxy was helping her keep sane. She let her thoughts drift back to Mustafar, the heat, both inside and outside of her, and the remembrance of her former masters. “Why did you do that to Obi-Wan?” Ahsoka asked suddenly, and Maul was immediately drawn from his reverie. “What do you mean?” he asked callously.</p><p>Ahsoka pursed her lips. “Why did you...have to go that far?” The sight of the Jedi Master being so grossly used against his will had been disturbing to her, but even more disturbing had been her own reaction to it. It was an evil fact that she’d been aroused, especially since Obi-Wan had been so clearly upset. <em> Evil </em>. But isn’t that what the Sith were?</p><p>Maul shrugged in response to her question. “I could, so I did,” he said simply, and the starkness of it all was abruptly chilling. Ahsoka knew that Maul had hardened over years of living in exile among the darkest of creatures; he had even been one himself, or at least partly. And he was raised on the logic of the Nightsisters, who were as savage as they came in <em> anything </em>, but especially when it came to mating with the Zabraks. They had never shown the men any mercy, never asked for permission. She had learned of this brutality as a padawan in the Temple, seen it manifested with Asajj Ventress. And now, she supposed that it had rubbed off on Maul.</p><p>It wasn’t surprising that he was this way, though indeed it was unsettling to her. But she did have qualms about her own reaction, and she certainly did not want it to become a norm for her.</p><p>Maul looked over at her finally, sensing her discomfort. “Would you rather I’d have not done it? I was under the impression that you were enjoying it.”</p><p>“I—I was...”</p><p>Maul smirked at her, his eyebrows raised, and Ahsoka felt a sickening lurch at his callousness. <em> How could he be so cruel? </em> She felt a hot rush of shame at her own actions, and she felt the sting of betrayal too, as if her own body had failed her. “I was rather uncomfortable,” she finally said to him as they reached the Senate Building and began their descent to the landing platform. “My body enjoyed it, yes, but my mind did not. And my mind takes precedence over my body.”</p><p>Maul landed the speeder, then looked at her carefully. “What you speak of makes no sense.”</p><p>“It does to me,” Ahsoka said with a shrug. “Yes, I’m a Sith, but there are limits to how far I will go. And that’s beyond what I’m willing to stand for.” She took in a deep breath, closing her eyes so that she didn’t have to look at Maul’s fuming gaze. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or embarrassed or perhaps even afraid of her. Ahsoka felt a hot stinging behind her eyes and knew that they burned yellow, and so she pried her lids open again, this time unwilling to look away. “I will walk away from this new order if I have to,” she said. “If you make what you do a common thing. If you make <em> rape </em>something you’re fine with.”</p><p>“You’re asking me to rewire my mind.”</p><p>“Maybe I am,” she replied, wrenching open the door to her speeder. Though it was nothing like overthrowing him, Ahsoka did feel a keen sense of satisfaction that buoyed her spirits at the fact that she even was standing up to Maul. “That’s my ultimatum.” She watched as he stepped gracefully from the speeder and shut the door behind him, and she held out her hand. “Will you take it?”</p><p>Maul looked at her intently, and then down at her hand warily like it was going to lash out and grow elongated teeth. “Why?”</p><p>“Why <em> what </em>?”</p><p>“Why make me do this?” he asked, fingers tapping restlessly from where they sat on his folded arms. “You are my apprentice. I am in control here. And none of this has to do with you.”</p><p>“It makes me uncomfortable,” Ahsoka said bluntly. “You don’t have to agree, but I will fight you. Or leave.”</p><p>“We duel, then,” Maul replied, a wild grin growing on his tattooed face. “If you win, I’ll be at the whim of your unnecessary <em> morals </em> . If <em> I </em> win, I’ll find you someone to fix your little problem with.”</p><p>Ahsoka shuddered terribly at that. She knew that Maul was far more experienced than she was, and yet she wanted to prove him wrong. Besides, it was either this or leave him, and she didn’t want to do <em> that </em> either. <em> Still, though...being made to assault someone </em>… Wasn’t that almost like she was being raped herself?</p><p>Ahsoka shook her head to herself. It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t come to that. She wouldn’t allow herself to lose. She couldn’t <em> afford </em> to. “If I win, you have to change your mindset,” Ahsoka said. “Not just stop...you know. You can do anything but that. Kill, torture, <em> anything </em>. But not that.”</p><p>Maul sneered. “Fine.” He took Ahsoka’s outstretched hand and they shook, feeling the power of their master-apprentice bond vibrating where their skin touched. Ahsoka felt cold, like she had just sealed herself to a terrible fate, but she wouldn’t allow her apprehension to be seen by Maul. On the outside, she schooled her expression into one of utter confidence.</p><p>***</p><p>They found Chancellor Palpatine, the elusive Darth Sidious, slumped dead on the floor of his office. His neck was held onto his head by a single thread of flesh, the rest separated in a clean lightsaber arc. Ahsoka’s breath caught; she knew who had committed this treason—Jedi Master Padmé Amidala, one of her informal masters and lover of Anakin and Obi-Wan. She wasn’t upset at Padmé’s betrayal—after all, she and Maul had been about to commit the same act—but she was nevertheless surprised. What had prompted the Human woman to do this?</p><p>A shiver ran down her spine. Padmé was not impulsive, she never had been. And this… There was all so much that Ahsoka didn’t understand, and for once, she felt the setbacks of her youth closing in on her, trapping her behind a wall that kept her from the city called <em> wisdom </em>. Knowledge. Experience.</p><p><em> Experience outranks everything </em>, she and Rex always had said to each other. It was bracingly true now.</p><p>“I don’t think that the Republic as a whole knows of this act,” Maul said suddenly, breaking her from her reverie. “This will be a silent coup. And Amidala will rue the day she killed the Chancellor.” He looked simply gleeful at the thought. Ahsoka looked up at him, the fierceness in his gaze and the harshness of his physique. He was a terrible person, and she was starting to think that <em> she </em> was, too, but she still admired everything about him. She was addicted, addicted to what he was and what he stood for and everything that he could be. And where that would bring <em> her </em>.</p><p>She also wanted to kill him oh, so badly.</p><p>It felt like her brain was being torn apart.</p><p>***</p><p>Padmé was sure that she was too late as she exited hyperspace and approached an infamous scalding red planet.<em> Mustafar, Mustafar, </em> her brain chanted at her as her heart reached out into the Force, but she could barely hear the sound of the words over the slowly-growing roar of fear. She hoped that it would not eclipse her good sense.</p><p>She knew without a doubt that Obi-Wan and Anakin were down on the planet’s surface, and she felt in her heart that something terrible had happened to the two of them. At least they were still alive. But she didn’t know the extent of the damage wrought upon them, and she worried what would be left of them.</p><p>Taking in a slow inhale to calm herself, Padmé engaged the landing gear, biting her lip as the ship lowered itself onto a flat patch of slick volcanic rock, so dark that it looked black in color. She wasted no time in preparing herself emotionally for how she would find her two loves, instead pulling on gloves of thick dewback hide that would protect her from the heat and digging through the supply bin for extra-strength binoculars. She was about to exit the ship when a thought occurred to her, and she tore back inside of it, yanking two oxygen masks from the wall and shoving them into a satchel that hung by the hatch door. Finally, Padmé was ready.</p><p>Mustafar was hotter than she had expected. Padmé could feel the burn of the just-cooled lava against the soles of her boots as she quickly traversed the rough terrain, lifting the binoculars to her eyes and squinting through them for a sight of a lightsaber, fringed Jedi robes, or any hint of Anakin and Obi-Wan at all. Frowning at her lack of success, she adjusted the brightness of the device, and the dark browns and reds of the Force-forsaken planet began to shift to yellows and tans. There, that was better.</p><p>After a moment, she lowered the binoculars from her face, letting them hang around her neck. She was too far from them, she realized. She would need to—</p><p><em> There </em>. Across the lava river, something was moving. Padmé had originally thought that it was just an odd rock formation, but no, the brown spot there was not solid, but soft fabric. She lifted the binoculars to her eyes again, and she saw light hair, smudged skin, and a perfectly recognizable beard. Obi-Wan.</p><p>She tried to calm herself. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. It looked as if the Jedi across the river had been <em> crying </em> , for he was hunched on the ground, crawling, almost, and Padmé was sure that she could see the tears streaking his dirty face. He was moving over the ground quickly, however, and those movements were not passive. Padmé squinted. He was <em> looking </em>for someone, just like she was. They were both searching for Anakin.</p><p>“Obi-Wan!” Padmé called, waving her hands above her head. At the sound of her voice, her lover’s head shot up, and slowly, he managed to stand. “Padmé?”</p><p>She tried to give him a smile, even if he wouldn’t be able to see her expression. “Where’s Anakin?” she cried.</p><p>“I don’t know!” Obi-Wan replied, sounding just as distraught. “Ahsoka was duelling with him—and then—well, he never came back!”</p><p>Padmé felt her blood chill. Ahsoka. The three of them had known back on Coruscant that their beloved padawan had turned to the Dark Side, but Padmé had never imagined that she would return to duel <em> Anakin </em> . She had been so close to him, they had virtually been <em> siblings </em>...how could she do this?</p><p>But instead of responding, her voice too afraid to speak on the matter as of yet, she simply called, “How can I get to you? Where is a bridge?”</p><p>Obi-Wan pointed to his right, her left. Surely enough, Padmé could see a black shape in the distance, a place to cross. She nodded, then realized that Obi-Wan would not be able to interpret her movement. “Keep looking for him!” she said. “I’ll look on this side, and then we can contact each other through the Force!”</p><p>“Alright!” Obi-Wan called, and she heard the tiniest of cracks in his voice. He was not okay, either. But they needed to find Anakin before they could deal with anything else. Despite being the Chosen One, he was just as mortal as the rest of them, and Padmé could sense that his life was at stake in this very moment. She would have to worry about Obi-Wan later.</p><p>***</p><p><em> Pain </em>.</p><p>Endless, unfathomable <em> pain </em>.</p><p>He felt it, a coarse, sharp fire in the very tips of his fingers and toes, or what was left of them. He felt the heat conducting along the metal of his bionic arm, burning the wires that connected it to the skin of his elbow. He felt the flames licking the hem of his robes and crawling on top of him with gentle intensity. He felt the pain consuming him; he couldn't think, much less speak or move. The only thing he could hear was the roar of a voice crying out, more of a scream, really, and he wanted to reach out and comfort it, touch it—not that he could do anything but lie on the ground and feel himself be devoured by the fire and lava.</p><p>As a few more moments passed, he realized that the one screaming was in fact him, and the knowledge sent a spike of bitterness through him like a slap on the cheek, though it was nothing like the unfathomable heat flooding through every pore, cell, and midichlorian in his body. He was stronger than this, he was—</p><p>But he really wasn’t.</p><p>Not at all.</p><p>***</p><p>Padmé found Anakin before Obi-Wan did, seeing his body sprawled near the lava river, mostly face-down, angry red burns carving away the side of his face. His clothes were virtually in tatters, and he was too heavy for her to lift, so she called to Obi-Wan through the Force as she stepped on the remaining flames and drifting sparks.</p><p>As she waited, Padmé pulled one of the oxygen masks from her satchel. She was infinitely glad, now, that she’d thought to bring them. Heaving Anakin over so that he was on his back, she strapped the device to his face, her own heartbeat beginning to soothe itself as she saw his breath fog up the see-through tube. His breathing was labored, yes, but at least he could still do it. Though she had to wonder how long this treatment she’d taken with her would last without him needing to be assisted by a machine. They would need to get to someone with money and power, someone with the resources to develop the life-saving technology that they would need to keep Anakin alive. A senator, perhaps? Padmé knew a few who may be willing to help. Bail Organa, for one—as a ruler of a planet, he’d have the financial resources, at least. And he was well-respected enough in the Senate to not raise suspicion.</p><p>Obi-Wan arrived soon after, his face shining with light sweat from the excruciating heat all around them. “We need to hurry,” he murmured as he helped Padmé lift Anakin’s body, the weight of it heavier than usual due to the fact that he couldn’t tense his own muscles and aid their plight. Anakin let out a moan as his burnt skin shifted around their fingers and the roughness of Padmé’s dewback gloves, and Padmé’s heart ached for him.</p><p>Still, she did not move her grip or break from her stride as she and Obi-Wan marched across the dark basalt to her ship and heaved Anakin up its ramp. She wished, not for the first time, that 3PO or R2 were there with them. They would have been able to help, or even just provide a bit less serious companionship. Padmé wouldn’t have minded getting cross with the golden protocol droid; she wouldn’t have minded his clueless remarks or the little astromech’s beeps and boops. She rather missed them, and she hoped that they were alright.</p><p>They probably weren’t.</p><p>Her brain couldn’t spare much attention to that thought, however, for Anakin, her darling Anakin, was lying flat on his back, head on her lap and oxygen mask pressed to his nose as Obi-Wan piloted their ship, leading them in far, far away from that karking Sith-damned fiery planet.</p><p>She was even able to sigh audibly as they entered hyperspace, as the bond between the three of them allowed Obi-Wan to take charge of Padmé’s half-thought-out plans. She felt terrible that she was forcing all this responsibility and work on him after he had obviously been through his own traumatic ordeal (of what, she still didn’t know), but it was necessary.</p><p>And then there was <em> Anakin </em> . She’d had to close her mind to him, for their bond had been frazzled and singed like a thin piece of yarn, and it was hot to grab onto, like a piece of iron that had just been forged from a flame. Still, though, she could feel the pull of him, his inner Force-presence seeking her own out, and probably Obi-Wan’s too. His want, his <em> need </em> for the connection between them battered the wall she’d built between their minds like a neverending tsunami, but she held true. If she let him in, she didn’t know if she would be able to survive the torrent of scalding, boiling water. It was only <em> pain, </em> pure, festering pain that waited for her on the other side.</p><p>Obi-Wan, on the other hand, had closed his mind to her. He was practically unreadable, even to Padmé, who had known him and been close to him for years now. Her own walls were down to him, leaving him able to traverse inside as much as he pleased, but the favor was not returned—at least, not right here, right now, where they were in the dark moment. He was hiding something, and Padmé sensed that his agony lay even deeper than Anakin’s.</p><p>***</p><p>Coruscant was a dangerous place to return to, but Obi-Wan knew that it was necessary. Padmé was right; Bail Organa was the only living person in the galaxy right now with the means and desire to help them, and so that is where they would go. He couldn’t lose Anakin. Not again, when he’d thought his once-padawan to be in the clutches of—of—</p><p>No, he couldn’t even think the traitor’s name. Their shared padawan, in a way, though Anakin had been her former master. She didn’t even carry her own name anymore. She was simply <em> Ignis </em>, Darth Ignis, and Obi-Wan decided right then that that was how he would refer to her. After all, that was what he always did, compartmentalizing, choosing a place for each unpleasant thought until they were each in their place. It was how he maintained his serenity and calm and poise and power, everything that he was known for as a great Jedi Master.</p><p>He wondered if it still mattered, now that all the Jedi were dead.</p><p>There was something else, too—something ticking in the back of his mind that wouldn’t rise to the surface. It kept bothering him as he entered Coruscant's atmosphere and slowly descended, finding a place to land near the Senate apartments. It was an intrusive sort of thought, and yet it lingered, though Obi-Wan couldn’t quite remember.</p><p>The fact was, Obi-Wan <em> could </em> remember. He remembered everything in perfect detail, his horror and nausea most of all. Right alongside the pleasure that—that <em> creature </em>—had made him feel. But his mind kept it from his consciousness like a well-guarded, coveted secret, and it kept up his walls to Padmé, too. He couldn’t even tell that he was doing it.</p><p>“Are you ready?” he asked the woman in the backseat when he’d touched onto the landing pad. Padmé, ever regal in her posture and poise, nodded once tightly. Obi-Wan watched her brush aside a lock of singed hair from the side of Anakin’s head, her thick gloves now removed—though it was more of a string than a chunk of hair at this point—and he felt a wave of affection swell in his chest for them both.</p><p>Quickly followed by a lump of bitterness. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to kiss Anakin again. He didn’t know if any of them would even be <em> okay </em>ever again. He could see, in the depths of Padmé’s mind, what had happened to her the last time she’d been on this planet. Right here, in this sector. He could barely speak for it. And it only reminded him of his own pain.</p><p>They lifted Anakin again as they exited the ship, still too tired to use their Force abilities to hoist him to float in the air. They were both drained emotionally, and of course, they didn’t want to drop their beloved.</p><p>Bail’s apartment was near the top floor, as he was an important senator from a planet in the Core Worlds. Padmé rang the bell once, then stepped back from the door respectfully.</p><p>After a few moments, it slid open. Before them stood a weary, brown-skinned man with a nicely-trimmed beard and a haggard look in his eyes, which had heavy dark rings hanging below them. He wore a simple blue robe and a plain gold ring on his ring finger, and he wasn’t smiling. Yet, despite all of that, there was a presence about him that had always been different, and was still different now. He had always been a crusader for justice, and now was the moment when that all came to the test. He was <em> hope </em>. He was Bail Organa.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>come on ahsoka, get it together!XD</p><p>at this point the fic is getting longer than i intended and i think I'm going to have to quit using google docs and switch to the free novel-writing software i downloaded...because this is only around 1/3 of the fic. it may get even longer than that, idk.<br/>comments, praise and feedback are always appreciated (even if you're just pointing out a lil typo lol)</p><p>come yell at me on <a href="https://darkalinas.tumblr.com">tumblr</a>!<br/>- maven&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Confessions and Consequences</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So we're finally getting some healing here with Obi-Wan!! I'm sorry--there's no Maul or Ahsoka (and therefore no maulsoka) in this chapter but the next chapter will be mostly (if not all) about them!</p><p>also--we reached 100 kudos!! YAY! I cannot express how happy this makes me, for it's completely absurd-- this fic? this crazy-ass, disgustingly evil, sort-of-rarepair fic has gotten this much attention? I love you all, thank you&lt;3</p><p>now enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was a long while standing out in the wind before Bail finally let them in. He seemed convinced that the three Jedi standing out before him were imposters of some sort--either that, or that they had arrived to kill him. Padmé didn't think it made much sense at all, but she could understand his uncertainty after the recent dramatic events. The events <em>she</em> had caused, she had to remind herself. She couldn't help thinking that maybe…maybe everything was her fault. If she had just been there for Anakin and Obi-Wan, perhaps they would be alright, and she wouldn't have to see that twisted expression of not-well-hidden despair on Obi's face.</p><p>She could tell that he was sad, though he was putting on that stoic calmness. Luckily for him, Obi-Wan's beard hid his mouth and the lines around it, but there was something very obvious stirring in his eyes, and Padmé didn't like it at all. She was rather afraid for him, she realized, afraid of what he might do. Not to any of them, of course, but to himself. And Padmé…she couldn't lose anyone else.</p><p>She kept a firm, watchful eye on him as Bail finally ushered them through his doorway and into the spacious living room of his apartment, a worried set of wrinkles in his forehead. Padmé noticed clearly the way that his eyes settled on Anakin's charred body and stayed there, even as he gestured over to his dining room table as a place to lay the Jedi atop of.</p><p>"What--what happened to him?" he asked in a daze when they had set down the groaning figure.</p><p>Padmé grimaced. Anakin didn't look like himself a bit, all blackened with pieces of flesh hanging off his skin. "He was…<em>attacked</em>…by a couple of rogue Sith," she explained as Obi-Wan pulled a chair out of its place to collapse upon, eyes never leaving Anakin. Padmé saw his hands twitch with something she couldn't quite decipher, but though she wanted to rush over and hug him, kiss him, hold him, she knew that now was not the time. "They left him to burn, and we found him only just in time."</p><p>"Sith?" Bail echoed, chest rising and falling quickly. "You mean…out of the stories?"</p><p>Padmé blinked. For her, the Sith had never been a story. The Jedi knew them as a true and dangerous order, even once they had been eradicated. Supposedly. Obviously, with Darth Maul's appearance a little over ten years ago, that had been proven false, and since then, the Jedi Order had been on high alert, especially with the chaos of the war.</p><p>But the public had never had that same confirmation. They still believed that the Sith were a long-forgotten myth, a concept created by the Jedi to be an opposing force, a "big bad," of sorts, something to tell children of at night to make them behave. Utter monsters, run by only hatred and anger, the perversion of everything good and natural. Bail and the other Senators had not been so naive, of course, but Padmé still sensed that they hadn't taken the issue quite as seriously as the Jedi had, and reasonably so. They weren't the ones who had nearly been decimated centuries ago.</p><p>And, well, she had to admit that they had a point--for the most part. A rogue Zabrak on Naboo, a member of an ancient order of evil? Even to her ears, it sounded a little far-fetched. And Padmé knew from her Senatorial internship that people liked to believe the safe option and sometimes ignore the hard facts.</p><p>If innate nature was different, maybe the Jedi wouldn't all be dead. Maybe Ahsoka would have never turned to the dark side. And maybe Darth Sidious wouldn't have…</p><p>He had always been a mentor for her. Back when Padmé was a queen, he had helped her, or so she'd thought, though in the past day it had all unraveled. When Padmé had interned as a Senator, she'd done so under his tutelage. Sheev Palpatine was a skilled negotiator, a ruthless negotiator, with no peer besides. And during her internship, he had been the Chancellor. Of the <em>entire karking galaxy</em>. She had been honored.</p><p>But Sheev Palpatine wasn't real. Sheev Palpatine was only a name, an alter ego, a shell. Darth Sidious had always been the real one, Padmé had realized. And she had found out just in time. A little past too late and a little before the point of no return.</p><p>She had been lucky to survive against a Sith Lord, and she wondered if the very thing that had saved her was the absolute presumption, ambition, and lust of Sidious. It was probable.</p><p>She was shaken from her thoughts, quite literally, by a large hand on her shoulder. "Master Amidala?" Bail asked her quietly, and Padmé swallowed and faced him, laying a pleasant smile, like a mask, over her features. "What is it, Senator?"</p><p>"I asked you how long it's been since you found Master Skywalker. It's quite urgent that we know." His lips were pressed tightly together as he spoke, weighing each word before they emitted from his lips. When she opened her mouth but did not speak, instead steadying herself on the dining table, he continued. "I am worried about you, Mas--Padmé. You don't look well. You look--"</p><p>"Senator, I don't give a <em>blasting f</em><em>uck</em> how I look right now," Padmé snapped, and Bail flinched backward like she had snarled at him with bared animalistic teeth. "I'm tired, and I'm covered in blood and ash, and the galaxy is about to karking fall apart. I just watched the love of my life nearly burn to death, and the other love of my life is struggling with something I can only begin to understand. And I--" She broke off abruptly, unable to reveal her own trauma. She took a moment to collect herself, inhaling through her nose and out through her mouth. Slowly. Deeply.</p><p>When she spoke again, it was about a more pressing matter. For what felt like the millionth time, Padmé pushed the memory of her near-assault to the back of her mind, cataloging the experience to reflect and rant on at another time. "It's been around a standard hour since we took Anakin from Mustafar," she said to Bail speaking quickly in a low voice. "Although I can't speak on how long he had been burning before I arrived. I really can't be sure. I just wa--"</p><p>Bail placed his hand on her shoulder again, shushing her softly. "It's alright, Master Amidala. We have time."</p><p>Padmé frowned at him. "Time?" she asked.</p><p>Bail nodded. "If a severely injured person is not placed within bacta solution fast enough, it becomes too late to save them. For humans, around half a day will change the way that they live, if they do manage to live, forever. But since you hurried right here, I think Master Skywalker's body may be salvageable."</p><p>Padmé simply stared at him. Bail looked as serious as he always was, though perhaps a little nervous, his fingers tapping on the outer robe of his garment. Every few seconds his eyes would dart to the now-silent, still-smoldering pile of human flesh on his table, and he would jolt just slightly. But despite his calming facade, Padmé could feel the nervous energy flowing from his body in waves, and the sensation was only confirmed by Bail's barely perceptible ticking movements. Padmé had always prided herself on being able to read people, and Bail Organa was no exception.</p><p>Finally, she murmured, "Thank the Force," and promptly collapsed onto the floor.</p><p>***</p><p>"Padmé? Padmé!"</p><p>A voice came to her in bits and pieces, sharpening as Padmé came back to the world. As she became more aware of her surroundings, she noticed that Obi-Wan was standing over her, shaking her slightly, hands gripping her shoulders. His forehead was creased with worry and he was breathing hard. Padmé felt a stab of guilt at his fear, even though it hadn't really been her fault that she'd collapsed on the floor. But she couldn't deny that she was exhausted.</p><p>"I'm alright, Obi-Wan," she finally murmured, allowing the fair-haired Jedi to tip her into his arms. He was warm and soft, such a contrast to Anakin's sharp edges, though right now, his muscles were tense, and his breathing was shallow. "Obi-Wan?" she asked him, looking up.</p><p>He smiled wanly down at her. "Yes, my dear?"</p><p>"I…I was so worried," she whispered, stroking his beard with her fingers. "About you and Anakin--shavit, where's Anakin? Is he safe? Is he alright?"</p><p>She stumbled to her feet, ignoring Obi-Wan's protests. Padmé glanced around herself warily, and she realized that she wasn't where she had been before at all. Bail Organa's living room was gone, replaced by what seemed to be a storeroom of sorts, cold and stark, aside from a few benches littered along the walls. In the middle of this odd room lay a long table of durasteel, and upon it, a slowly breathing figure hooked up to what looked like a million machines, tubes snaking from his body like they were a part of him, carrying blue and green fluids through their clear cases. There were wires, too--black and red and orange, some held together by zip ties and others carelessly strewn about the figure's body, which was fine in some places but brutally burned in others, with skin and muscle missing. There was a heavy black box that sat upon his chest, rising and falling with it, with a short, thick nozzle that protruded from the top and fizzled into a basic respirator.</p><p>"Anakin," Padmé whispered, afraid to touch him or even stand too close. She was vaguely aware of Obi-Wan approaching her from behind, his soft beard tickling her forehead as he kissed it. "I know, love," he murmured, voice breaking on the last word. "But he's at least alive."</p><p>"Is this even being alive?" Padmé asked, more to herself than anyone else. She approached the table and pressed a hand to the cold durasteel, the closest she could get to Anakin without…well, touching him. She didn't want to hurt him, and even more than that, she didn't know if she <em>could--</em></p><p>"It's enough," Obi-Wan replied, releasing her and turning away, his face shadowed from the medical light that hung over Anakin's head. "It won't be like this forever."</p><p>Padmé felt a pressure building behind her eyes, and she had to work hard to hold back the tears.</p><p>It was no use. They came like a flood, overtaking her until she was clutching the table for support, feeling her worry and fear crash down on her all at once.</p><p>"Padmé," said Obi-Wan firmly, and she could practically hear the disapproval dripping from his voice. "You must calm yourself. This is not the Jedi way. Control your em--"</p><p>Padmé wanted to tear off one of Anakin's tubes and throw it at him. "But we're not Jedi anymore, Master Kenobi!" she cried. "They're <em>gone!</em> They're all dead! We're the only karking ones left!"</p><p>Obi-Wan flinched at her use of his formal title instead of his first name. "Padmé--"</p><p>"Don't 'Padmé' me!" she shouted in reply, storming away from him and setting herself on the far bench, head falling into her hands. "You've always been so kriffing obsessed with the dogma, being the Council's perfect little Jedi, so good, such a role model--"</p><p>"And I shouldn't have been?" Obi-Wan shouted back, face reddening. "What--you think I should have been subpar, you think I should have let myself get sent off to the corps and not fought it, just stayed there? Because if that's what had happened, I never would have met you, Padmé! Or Anakin for that matter!" He was breathing hard now, hand slashing through the air as he spoke, slowly approaching her. "And don't you forget, my <em>dear,</em> that I am a member of the Council, too! When you insult them, you're insulting me!"</p><p>Padmé swallowed. "You know it's not that simple."</p><p>"Sith hells, I do!" Obi-Wan replied harshly, and his curse took Padmé by complete surprise. Her eyebrows shot upwards almost comically and she gaped at him for a moment. Obi-Wan must have been quite upset to swear.</p><p>It was silent for a long moment, and the only thing Padmé could hear was the steady thrum of the machines that kept Anakin alive, the whirring of the pumps that sent essential fluids flooding into and from his body. It was painful, that being the only sound. She hated it.</p><p>Finally--</p><p>"What are we going to do?" Obi-Wan asked, and his voice was soft now, a mix between a murmur and a whisper as he met Padmé's gaze. All trace of his angry outburst was gone, and Padmé was left with a defeated man, shoulders slumped and the light gone from his eyes.</p><p>"I don't know," she said, closing her eyes. She didn't want to look at him, and she didn't want to look at Anakin. At anyone. All she wanted was darkness. "I just can't believe that Ahsoka would turn to the Dark Side. I can't believe she would duel Anakin. And that she was doing that all herself--fighting both you and Anakin!" As much as she hated to admit it, Padmé felt a small spike of pride at the thought of Ahsoka having that much skill and power. She desperately missed her unofficial padawan, for really Ahsoka had learned from all three of them, not just Anakin.</p><p>Silence again, and after moment, Padmé cracked open an eyelid to see Obi-Wan on edge, his index finger tapping on his hip. "Obi-Wan?" she asked, and when he only blinked at her, lips curling downward like leaves weeping with rain, she felt herself straighten. There was something he wasn't telling her. "What is it?" she asked.</p><p>"Ahsoka wasn't alone," Obi-Wan murmured softly, still tapping his index finger. With a start, Padmé realized that that is where his lightsaber would usually be, but it had somehow disappeared since she'd last seen him. Had he lost it on Mustafar?</p><p>"What do you mean by that?" she asked.</p><p>Obi-Wan's lips twitched, tongue wetting the places where they were dry. He grimaced at his own gesture, cringing in upon himself. Padmé <em>stared.</em> "Are you alright?" she asked him.</p><p>"No," replied Obi-Wan truthfully. "I'm not. And I haven't been entirely truthful, either."</p><p><em>I know,</em> Padmé wanted to say, but she kept silent, a vessel for him to vent to. She needed to be there for him.</p><p>"Ahsoka wasn't alone on Mustafar," Obi-Wan continued calmly. "She had…a master. She was a fully inducted Sith apprentice." He inhaled shakily, but Padmé still wouldn't move to comfort him. She was still miffed at his rebuff of her emotions. "Who was her master?" she tried to ask as calmly as possible.</p><p>Obi-Wan broke eye contact with her at last, his hand jittering madly at this point. Padmé felt as if a cold stone had fallen into her lap, or perhaps into her heart. She knew. She <em>knew.</em></p><p>"It was Maul," Obi-Wan whispered, and Padmé barely heard him, but she didn't really need to. Darth Maul was the only person in the galaxy to make Obi-Wan react this way. After all, he'd lost so much to that terrible monster--Qui-Gon, Satine, and now Ahsoka. In a sense, Padmé supposed.</p><p>Of course it was Maul. It was <em>always</em> him.</p><p>"And?" Padmé asked, knowing that there was still more. It couldn't be over, not with the way that Obi-Wan was acting. "What did he do?"</p><p>Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm sorry, Padmé, I can't--I can't--"</p><p>He was breathing faster now, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as he hyperventilated, and Padmé was forced to scramble over to him, helping him sit on the bench nearest the room's entry door. "He hurt you, didn't he?" Padmé asked, taking his hands in hers and rubbing the backs of them with her thumbs. "You can tell me, love. I'm here for you."</p><p>"It's really nothing, Padmé," Obi-Wan murmured when he had calmed down. "Anakin is over there, barely alive--I at least survived whole. I'm lucky."</p><p>He wouldn't meet her gaze, so Padmé leaned down at took his jaw in her hands, lifting his chin so that he was forced to look at her, and fixed him with a stern face. "Obi-Wan," she said firmly, "Stop lying to me. Yes, you're alive, but that doesn't mean you're okay. And we can't move forward and figure out what to do with Republic, the Jedi, and Ahsoka unless we get our own problems sorted out first."</p><p>Obi-Wan gaped at her, eyelashes fluttering beautifully. Padmé told herself to focus.</p><p>"Well?" she asked. "Are you going to pull yourself together and tell me what happened?"</p><p>Obi-Wan glanced over at Anakin again. "Are you sure we shouldn't wait f--" His voice died out as Padmé glared at him again. "Alright, fine." He looked rather defeated as he took in a breath and gave Padmé's hands a squeeze. "Maul had an…unorthodox…way of trying to fight me," Obi-Wan said softly. "He didn't pull out his lightsaber and challenge me to a duel." And, eyes shut, he told her everything, Maul and Ahsoka's obscene actions in front of him, and then of course…Maul's assault of himself. He wanted to retch at the memory.</p><p>Padmé held him softly, whispering comforts in his ear and stroking his beard. She felt something wet on her thumb and realized that he was finally crying, salty tears flowing freely from his eyes and spilling across his cheeks like scattered petals. In an atypical sort of way, Padmé was somehow proud of him for displaying such emotion.</p><p>And, more than anything else, she was disgusted. She still hadn't told Obi-Wan anything about her own assault at Sidious's hands, and his story elicited the horrifying memory within her, still so fresh. It had only been a day, after all. But Padmé had made it out. And somehow, Obi-Wan had not.</p><p>He had his eyes squeezed shut as he leaned against the wall now, pulling back from Padmé's embrace. "I couldn't stop him," he cried softly, an arm falling over his face. Shame. Padmé could recognize it as well as she knew her own footprint in the Force. She wanted to hold him again, but as she leaned in, he pushed her away. "I wanted it, Padmé. I thought…I don't know what I thought. But I enjoyed it. I karking <em>enjoyed</em> it!" He broke off into sobs, chest heaving.</p><p>Padmé did her best to reach into his mind without being too invasive, her Force signature brushing against him in a comforting manner. She hoped that it would provide him with at least a small amount of consolation, that she and Anakin would always be there for him.</p><p>Obi-Wan seemed to unclench his muscles and sink in his shoulders as she did so, releasing the smallest of sighs. "Am I a bad person, my love?"</p><p>"You're not, Obi," she whispered to him in reply. "Maul wanted to get inside your head like that, I'm sure. And Ahsoka helped him. You were already tired enough when Maul began his torment. It's not your fault." Obi-Wan began to protest, so she placed a finger on his mouth, feeling the pricklings of his beard on her calloused skin. "It's never your fault," she added quietly. "It's always his."</p><p>Obi-Wan nodded slowly, and only when he did so did Padmé finally lean in and kiss him, feeling his arms wrap around her torso and hers cup his face gently.</p><p>This was why she loved kissing Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was a soft-hearted soul, fragile. Obi-Wan needed a gentle heart in return and a light, soothing touch. He was so different from Anakin's demanding self, and though Padmé loved them both dearly, she wouldn't have been able to handle the latter at the moment. She was too frayed herself, split ends ready to tear themselves to the root.</p><p>They pulled apart and Padmé smiled at Obi-Wan, who gave her a peck on the cheek in reply. "We'll wait here," he said to her. "Senator Organa is renting this side apartment a little ways from the upper levels. It's got everything we need to take care of Anakin until he heals, and in the meantime, we can ready ourselves." He didn't have to say for what. Besides, they needed to take things one step at a time.</p><p>"We're…down in the lower levels?" Padmé asked instead.</p><p>Obi-Wan shook his head. "Not quite. We're only a few levels down. He walked over to the transparisteel window, pulling on the cord that released the shade. Padmé blinked at the sudden bright light, the way it flooded into the room magnificently, catching on the corners of the durasteel table and the leftover wetness below Obi-Wan's eyes. Well, then. They certainly weren't in the lower levels, or there would not be this much sunlight.</p><p>"We couldn't stay with the senator for safety reasons, of course," Obi-Wan added, running a hand along the window and staring out into the vast maze of Coruscant's buildings. "And we'll have to keep this closed most of the time to avoid being seen by the clones." With a regretful air, he pulled the cord again to re-install the shade. "This will have to do."</p><p>"It's wonderful. We'll have to thank him," Padmé said, feeling her heart swell with gratitude. Yes, the apartment was nice, but what she really meant was all of Anakin's equipment. He still lay there on the table, not completely clean, yet not completely sullied by leftover ash either, barely moving with the occasional low moan. It felt like hell to just look at him. "For everything," she added to herself, and behind her, Obi-Wan kissed the back of her neck. "Indeed," he murmured. "And for now, we must sleep."</p><p>Reluctantly, Padmé nodded and let herself be led from the room into a small hall, where a storage closet held sleeping blankets and pillows in lieu of a traditional bed. As she pulled the mat-like blankets from their shelves and carried them with Obi-Wan back to the room where Anakin was lying in a coma, she silently thanked the Force that the beds in this apartment were done up in the Eastern Nabooian style, the same style that the Jedi used as well, for it allowed her to feel more connected to both her homes and be in Anakin's presence, resting in his slowly-beating Force signature. It was a small piece of comfort, but she would take what she could get.</p><p>"Goodnight, Obi," Padmé whispered as they drew the covers over themselves.</p><p>"Sleep well, my darling Padmé," he replied softly, stroking her hand. She took his and sensed as he slowly fell asleep that way, heart rate slowing and breathing becoming deeper. But Padmé couldn't find it within her to do the same. Every time she closed her eyes, she couldn't help but see Sidious's terrible expression of unsatiable lust, hear the shrieking moans of Anakin inside her head. And yes, she knew that Sidious was gone and that Anakin was safe. But she couldn't help it besides.</p><p>So instead she stared at the fluids moving slowly through Anakin's tube, the long skinny one that hung in front of her nose where she slept. There was a tiny air bubble in one place, and Padmé watched as it traversed along its course until the tube disappeared over the table where Padmé couldn't see it any longer. She wondered briefly what that particular substance was, and slowly, she drifted into sleep as her brain folded the flaps of its box inwards and allowed her to finally rest.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Okay, so I lied--NEXT chapter is the final chapter in this Act before we move on to part 2. sorry about that hahaha.</p><p>If you haven't picked up on it yet, Padmé's story differs quite a bit from canon, but it's not totally divergent from her origin. She still went into politics and was the Nabooian queen, but after her senatorial internship, she didn't continue on as a Senator and instead was approached to join the order due to her extremely strong Force-core. She would have been around 15 at that time, so while she's not as well-trained as a normal Jedi, her tactician skills have been extremely important during the Clone Wars.</p><p>Anyway--that's my story on her. Perhaps a little unrealistic, but this whole fic is crazy, lmao.<br/>Comments are always appreciated, and if you'd like, come talk to me on my tumblr, <a href="https://darkalinas.tumblr.com">darkalinas</a>!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Consummation</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Ahsoka and Maul send a message to the galaxy amid their own struggles with each other and the sexual tension threatening to boil over between them.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>more smut to come!<br/>see the endnotes for chapter-specific warnings:)</p><p>This is...the longest chapter I've written for this fic. It's over 8k words. WOW. And the fic itself is almost to 40k words? I've never written anything this long before—it's crazy lol. this has also been my favorite chapter to write so far!! I hope you enjoy:)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Taking over the galaxy was not nearly as dramatic and all-encompassing as Ahsoka had assumed it to be. She had expected some sort of fight, at least a struggle if not a battle, but there was nothing. The Jedi had been removed from their positions of power, and the Chancellor was gone, too. Meanwhile, the leftover clones seemed all too happy to allow Maul and Ahsoka to enter what had been Palpatine's chambers, happy to serve under new masters.</p><p>It was rather eerie, and it set Ahsoka on edge. She felt as if this should have been more difficult, and the simplicity of it all made her worry that something was wrong—that someone would attack them out of nowhere. Or something like that.</p><p>"Are you alright, Lady Ignis?" Maul asked her as he commenced wrapping Sidious's body in his own cloak, a look of disdain apparent on his face.</p><p>Ahsoka flinched at the title, still unused to the cadence of it, and she saw Maul's eyes narrow at her reaction. "I'm—I'm fine," she said unconvincingly, leaning against the wall and twirling the hilt of her lightsaber in her palm. "Why?"</p><p>"You look on edge," he replied simply. Shrugging, he hoisted Sidious's body over his shoulder and trudged out of the office with a sense of purpose. The pair of elite troopers standing guard outside of the doorway saluted him as he exited, and Maul took in the show of respect with a slight nod of his head, sending a chill down Ahsoka's spine—though not necessarily in a negative way. She had known that power suited him. She had seen him lounge naturally on a stolen throne as if it belonged to him, seen him point his fingers and order people around with a snap. He was arrogant, and he was cruel.</p><p>Still, it was different to see <em>this</em> in action, right in Coruscant, in the office chambers of the Chancellor of the entire galaxy. Along with the shiver, a bud of heat coursed through her as well, all the way down to her core, and Ahsoka clenched around nothingness. The power was enticing when it belonged to him, and it was even more so when she thought she could attain it as well.</p><p>"Are you coming, apprentice?" Maul called over his shoulder without looking at her.</p><p>Ahsoka sighed. "I'm going to clean up and get things sorted back into place," she told him. "You get rid of the body."</p><p>"Are you sure?"</p><p>"We need someone to run the Republic, don't we?" Ahsoka asked with a smirk that Maul unfortunately didn't turn around to see. "Trust me."</p><p>He finally pivoted, eyeing her carefully. "Fine," he bit out at last. "But be subtle, yes?"</p><p>"Of course, Master," Ahsoka replied, grinning when she saw him suck in a breath at her tone. "You know I always do as you command," she added for good measure, unable to help herself.</p><p><em>"Schuta,"</em> he muttered to himself, just loud enough that Ahsoka could hear. She let out a scoff, for if she was a whore, he wasn't much better. "Get going!" she called back to him in reply, shaking her head as Maul rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Was she…amused? It was hard for her to say.</p><p>And she was almost disgusted with herself for it, for being somehow attracted to and obsessed with this terrible, merciless creature, who had become so twisted that Ahsoka couldn't even say who he was anymore. As a matter of fact—she couldn't even say who <em>she</em> was anymore.</p><p>And she hated herself for it. Nearly.</p><p>Sighing, Ahsoka turned to the desk that sat in front of the massive window, which technically didn't exist anymore, for the transparisteel was now shattered in pieces on the plush red rug, and most had fallen down into the streets below. Ahsoka scowled. She'd need to call in someone to fix this—it was beyond her skill set.</p><p>So for now, she ignored the issue, feeling the biting wind from the high-up level caress her back, and allowed herself to flop into Sidious's old chair, delighting in the slouch of it. The desk, too, was cluttered with all sorts of junk, and Ahsoka couldn't help but sneer at it all. She'd have thought that the Chancellor was a more organized person. Still, she supposed that much of this had to do with the struggle that had gone down here, and so she could at least give him that.</p><p>Within a few minutes, Ahsoka had replaced the desk items to what she assumed was their natural order and was now examining the holoprojector in the center of it. It was different from the models she'd previously seen, more sophisticated, and—<em>ah.</em></p><p>Ahsoka pressed a small button on the back of the device, and the holo came alive with a small audible <em>click.</em> She smiled, orienting herself to the interface, and queued up a message to the Senate. They would need to know that some…<em>administrative changes</em>…had occurred.</p><p>But then she remembered—<em>subtlety.</em> She couldn't go all out, not yet. The takeover of the Republic relied on fear and uncertainty, and Ahsoka needed to give that to them. So perhaps, she and Maul needed a figurehead for them. But who could possibly work?</p><p>Ahsoka knew only a few senators personally, and mostly through Padmé. There was Bail Organa of course, but Ahsoka dismissed the idea immediately. Organa was too…rebellious. He was independent; he cared about the wellbeing of Alderaan first and foremost, and would probably object to the brutal ways of the Sith. The same could be said for Riyo Chuchi, and Ahsoka decided to ignore them both.</p><p>Then there were Lux Bonteri and Rush Clovis. Neither of them were particularly appealing, though Ahsoka did remember Lux with a little bit of annoyance and a little bit of fondness. They had both been part of the Separatist ties at least for a time, which made them more viable candidates than the other blindly loyal puppets of the Senate.</p><p>Or, perhaps…that loyalty could work to her advantage. Ahsoka was absolutely sure that there were many in the Senate that would jump at the chance of additional power, of the opportunity to rule, even if they didn't end up controlling the strings at all. But then again, she didn't want them to get overly-cocky, as she was sure they were predisposed to do.</p><p>Which led Ahsoka to her final option.</p><p>She herself had never been a politician, and most Jedi didn't have any experience with it at all. But she still had been the padawan of the Chosen One, and Ahsoka knew that across the galaxy, especially in Coruscant, that she had been popular, and popularity held weight, especially when that popularity was induced from the pop-culture and military phenomenon that was the Hero With No Fear.</p><p>Could she possibly do it? She'd have much to learn, and would probably need to get someone to teach her the ways of different policies and how executive orders worked, but after all that was said and done, <em>could she?</em></p><p>She was sure that Maul would only be too willing to help her. He <em>had</em> been involved in Mandalorian politics, after all. But after everything was said and done, Ahsoka would have to make sure that <em>she</em> was the one ruling, not him. It would surely be a difficult task.</p><p>After a moment, she decided that she would at least record a message to broadcast to the greater galaxy about Chancellor Palpatine's death. They wouldn't have to know who killed him, of course—in fact, Ahsoka was sure that it would be easy to frame his demise as a function of his own doing. Not suicide in the traditional sense of the word, but rather as fallout from his attempts to take over the galaxy. Then again, with Padmé's Force signature imprinted all over the body, it was clear that she would be an easy scapegoat.</p><p>So the question was: <em>Who did Ahsoka want to blame?</em></p><p>She sighed, letting her head fall into her hands, propping herself up with one elbow. Taking over a galaxy was much more difficult than she had anticipated even just a moment ago.</p><p>After a moment, Ahsoka sat up again, drumming her fingers on the desk as her thoughts raced. Her options were laid out before her on a table lush with ripe fruits and meats with dripping sauces, each more tempting than the last. And it really all boiled down to whether she wanted to directly rule or play a role behind the scenes. Which angle did she want to take?</p><p>Standing with a creak of the Chancellor's chair, Ahsoka walked to the window, shards of what was left of it crunching under her feet as she looked out to the sparkling city of Coruscant. The planet's dusk was arriving, and with it, pink and green streaks that split the sky into a bizarre centuries-old painting. <em>Her</em> city. It could be hers, and she would be <em>loved.</em></p><p>That was it. Then and there, Ahsoka made her decision, that she would rather be loved than feared. And the blame would be placed on Sidious, where it rightfully belonged.</p><p>She now rehearsed her planned speech to herself, folding the words on her tongue until they felt like they belonged there. And when she was finally ready, Ahsoka placed the holorecorder in a prime position on Palpatine's desk and pressed the button to begin.</p><p>The timer began to count itself downward, and hiding her smile at her recent achievements, Ahsoka sat in the Chancellor's chair, back straight and hands folded in front of her. She was the perfect picture of Jedi serenity, though inside, she was a diabolical storm. And the poor Republic—they would never know.</p><p>
  <em>3…2…1…</em>
</p><p>"Good evening, Republic citizens across the galaxy," Ahsoka began without missing a beat. "I am Ahsoka Tano, former padawan to the Jedi Anakin Skywalker. I am heartbroken to reveal to you the recent betrayal of Chancellor Palpatine, who ordered the clone army to attack all the Jedi and k-kill them." She pitched her voice perfectly, and as expected, as <em>planned,</em> it broke in just the right place.</p><p>Ahsoka <em>was</em> devastated by the sudden annihilation of the Jedi Order, she had to admit. Granted, them being struck down was one less obstacle for her and Maul to deal with, but it still felt personal, and it made her hate Darth Sidious even more, even though he was already dead.</p><p>Taking a breath, she continued. "In the Jedi Order's last act to defend themselves, one of our members struck down the Chancellor in an act of heroism that will never be forgotten. Master Padmé Amidala—" At this, Ahsoka looked directly and intensely into the recording device, willing Padmé on the other side to see her intent, "—wherever you are, know that we will welcome you with open arms. For the sake of the Republic, we hope that you survived." Ahsoka couldn't help smirking just the tiniest bit, just to make her true meaning beyond apparent: <em>If we find you, we will destroy you.</em></p><p>"Palpatine was a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious," Ahsoka said, sitting back in her chair once she was sure that she'd gotten the point across. "I know most of you don't believe that such a concept exists any longer, but the Jedi Order has been on the lookout for Sidious since the Battle of Naboo over ten years ago. The Sith are pure evil, and I am at least happy to say that their Order has been abolished." A lie, slipping from her mouth as easily as wine from a newly-opened bottle. "Now we must begin the process of building ourselves back from a near-dictatorship. That's what would have happened if Palpatine had stayed in power.</p><p>"So for the time being, I'll be assuming the role of Chancellor until we can get things moving properly again. The Senate will meet soon, and one of our first objectives will be officially calling an end to the war. We'll also be organizing a mass funeral for all the fallen Jedi, as well as recruitment trials for Force-sensitive younglings and adults, even, who wish to join the new Order that will be created.</p><p>"I am again, very sorry for all that has transpired in the past day, and I wish each of you and your families well. Please stay safe."</p><p>Ahsoka ended the recording with a click, and almost jumped in her seat when she heard a soft, familiar laugh.</p><p>"You did beautifully, darling Ignis," Maul said, practically purring as he uncrossed his arms and stood up straight from where he had been leaning against the wall. "You speak with such eloquence."</p><p>Ahsoka smirked at him. "Thank you, Master," she said in reply, hands flying over the holodevice in front of her. The broadcast was sent within a moment.</p><p>"Come here, apprentice."</p><p>Maul's voice changed suddenly, need gripping the edges of his throat, the words tense with dominance. Ahsoka obeyed him, walking towards him at first slowly, then faster when he licked his lips and eyes flashed. He grabbed her wrist, spinning her around so that her back was pressed against the hard plane of his chest, and wrapped his arms around her torso tightly. "See how you belong to me?" he whispered. "See how perfectly you fit between my arms? How your body molds to min?"</p><p>Ahsoka blinked and nodded, sure that she knew where he was going with this. When Maul squeezed her even tighter, and pinched a fold of her bare abdomen between his middle and forefinger, she yelped and added, "I see it, Master."</p><p>"Good," Maul said, and Ahsoka could almost hear the smirk in his voice. He led her closer to the ledge where the great window used to be, running a hand across her stomach and down her curves. "Look," said Maul, gesturing out into Coruscant.</p><p>Ahsoka looked. It was marvelous. Every few blocks, her own face was proudly displayed on a holovid, casted up on the walls of skyscrapers and on posts that rose from the base of the lower levels all the way up to this high place in the sky. Her head was held high, shoulders pressed down and back, and voice even. Ahsoka smiled. She hadn't felt that confident in ages.</p><p>"You are beautiful, Lady Tano," Maul whispered in her montral, and Ahsoka couldn't help it as her heart sped up. She wouldn't have minded if Maul took her right here and now. "You will make a stunning empress."</p><p>"Empress?" Ahsoka echoed, eyes sliding to him, mouth staying slightly parted.</p><p>The edges of Maul's lips curled upward. "Yes, Ignis. <em>Empress."</em> He cocked his head to the side, eyes lidded as his hands roamed her body, one reaching down to squeeze the round curve of her ass. "You didn't think I'd be content with you as a mediocre and simple chancellor, did you?" He leaned even closer, breath tickling her lekku as he stooped to meet her much shorter height. "There was never going to be a question about it. And you must know that it is still I who will control you. Do not get ahead of yourself."</p><p>Ahsoka nodded stiffly, anger boiling up at his stifling at her power, while also extremely aroused. Maul had one hand drifting up toward her lekku now, and Ahsoka gasped when he pinched the end of one, tugging on it sharply. "Master—"</p><p>"Tell me what you want," he snarled, backing her into the edge of the desk, grinding his hips into hers. Ahsoka could feel the hard metal of his mechanics rutting into the most sensitive parts of her body, and she moaned, reaching up behind Maul's neck. "I want you to fuck me," she said.</p><p>"Elaborate," Maul hissed between labored breaths, and remembering her Sith trial on Mustafar, Ahsoka took one of his small horns in her fingers and fondled it with care. Maul moaned and thrust his head back, fingers twisting the tips of her lekku.</p><p>Ahsoka whined, lower lip catching between her teeth. "Fuck me like I am the empress, as you say," she said. "Here, in what would have been the plotting nucleus of the Chancellor, right here in this karking office—"</p><p>Maul groaned in pleasure at her words, slashing his arm across the desk and causing everything upon it to crash onto the plush carpet. Then he lifted Ahsoka and threw her on the desk roughly, staring down at her. "Should I fuck you here, defile this desk that was once used for signing papers?" Smirking, his eyes slid to the floor. "Or maybe I should fuck you on this beautiful crimson carpet, cut you and make you bleed until your skin matches its color. And—" He smiled faintly, closing his eyes. "There is a chair, throne-like, almost, a position of power and made of the finest leather. Perhaps I should fuck you there."</p><p>"Fuck me everywhere, please, Master!" Ahsoka cried, and felt her stomach flipped when Maul's grin turned wicked.</p><p>And then he did, tearing off her clothing and inserting his fingers into her waiting cunt and pumping them furiously as Ahsoka writhed on the desk. "My Lord," she moaned between pants, bucking her hips into his hand. She could feel the fire burning through her, her namesake, <em>Ignis.</em> It ate her up from the inside out, and shw found that she needed more, so she reached up to touch Maul, but not before he could take her lithe wrists together with his free hand and squeeze them tight. Tears came to Ahsoka's eyes, and she grimaced. "Master, that <em>hurts."</em></p><p>"I know," he purred, picking up the pace. "Tell me, little girl, how can you plan to rule the galaxy as its empress when you are so wanton and needy before me?"</p><p>Ahsoka moaned as he slipped a third finger into her, stretching her open. But she couldn't respond to his question—not that he had expected her to. Instead, her mouth parted in a silent groan as she neared her climax, the only sounds in the room being the sticky sound of her slick coating Maul's fingers as he deftly fucked her with them.</p><p>"You like this, little slut?" Maul asked her, voice low, nearly guttural. Ahsoka moaned, and he flicked his thumb over her clit, sending a shudder through her. She hadn't believed he could hold her wrists any tighter until he did—and Ahsoka almost felt herself losing circulation. It was exhilarating. "Fuck, <em>Maul—,"</em> she said, voice diminuating to barely a whisper.</p><p>There was a sharp slap of skin on skin, and suddenly, Ahsoka felt pain blooming on her ass. Maul had flipped her over faster than she could notice, and cracked his hand across her backside like a whip. Ahsoka cried out, more in surprise than anything else.</p><p>"What did you call your master?" Maul asked her dangerously.</p><p>Ahsoka didn't respond.</p><p>"I AM YOUR MASTER!" Maul shouted, almost a scream, his veins bulging in his neck, eyes glinting sadistically. "Remember your place, apprentice!"</p><p>"I just called you by your name!" Ahsoka protested, turning her head to face downward, grinning against the desk where he couldn't see her face. "I just said 'Maul'—"</p><p>Another crack ripped across the tender skin of her ass and Ahsoka screamed. "Master!"</p><p>She looked up at his again. Maul was breathing heavily, lips twisted to one side. "That's my darling schuta, my beautiful empress," he breathed, bringing his hand back to her flesh and rubbing it tenderly. Ahsoka flinched when his skin touched hers, but the result was indeed pleasurable, a soothing ease of pain as she felt the Force flow between them, healing the blooming red and purple on her orange skin.</p><p>She met his eyes, and found that Maul was smiling at her, and for once, she wondered if he <em>did</em> in fact care after all.</p><p>But no sooner had the thought crossed her mind then Maul was pinning her facedown on the desk again, his fingers trailing down her body from the tips of her lekku to her stimulated nipples to the downward line of her lips that led to her dripping pussy. Ahsoka couldn't help herself burn with shame as his words came back to her. <em>Little slut. Little girl.</em> She was nothing more than a toy to him, a beautiful pawn for him to fuck and use and rule through, a way to win the popularity of the galaxy.</p><p><em>No,</em> Ahsoka thought, gritting her teeth in frustration, lifting her mind's shields as high and thick as she could. Maul would never be able to see the revolution tearing through her neurons like the ignition of a lightsaber, and it would cut him before he could realize what was happening. She knew that he knew what she wanted, in every single sense of the word, but the balance between wanting to be fucked and wanting to kill was constantly tipped to one side or the other, and Maul certainly would never know which to expect.</p><p>For now, she let the 'wanting to be fucked' side take over her.</p><p>"Are you going to behave now, little apprentice?" Maul whispered to her, leaning down beside her where his hand was pressing her montrals and head into the desk. "Or will I have to punish you again?"</p><p>Ahsoka whined, unable to speak with her mouth in the compromising position it was in. Sighing with that ever-present air of superiority and light sarcasm, Maul loosened his hold on her, allowing Ahsoka to shift her head and part her lips. "I will behave, Master," she whispered, shame lighting her pussy like flame to a wick. It was arousing beyond belief, and nothing like she ever had thought she'd become. It only made her more ashamed, and the cycle continued.</p><p>"And?" Maul asked, goading her.</p><p>She understood. He wanted her to beg. And if that's what it took, she would do it.</p><p>"My Lord, please fuck me. Please allow me to come."</p><p>Maul sneered, laughing his whispery laugh. "Good little slut," he muttered, and parted her lips with his fingers—both pairs of lips, one set with each hand. Ahsoka gladly and obediently took his index finger in her mouth, sucking it gently. It was thick and long, black and red bleeding seamlessly into each other, and his nails were cut just short enough to be comfortable, while still maintaining their elegant style.</p><p>Still, she wanted his cock. She wished she had his cock.</p><p>"M-My Lord, please—"</p><p>Maul spanked her again, not as harshly as before, but enough to leave a veritable stinging behind. "Patience!"</p><p>Ahsoka laughed. "Isn't that a Jedi trait?"</p><p>Another swift slap to her ass, and Ahsoka bucked her hips, grinding into Maul's fingers. Sensation shot through her body as she found the friction she so desperately needed, and as Maul hit her again, pain and pleasure blended to a euphoric combination, sending her over the edge.</p><p>Maul fucked her with his fingers even faster then, carrying her through her orgasm. Ahsoka screamed, unable to hold herself back, eyes glazed over in ecstasy. "M-Maul!" she shouted as she came on his fingers.</p><p>"That's right," he said gutturally, uncaring about her slippage in using his name as he pressed a kiss to her temple. Ahsoka stilled, reeling at the almost-sentimental touch. His lips right there, so gentle, eyes closed as their skin brushed. It wasn't that it was new, but that it felt somehow more intimate than he had ever been.</p><p>But then Maul's thick arm was wrapped around the hollow of her waist and he was throwing her to the floor, and she couldn't think about that anymore.</p><p>"You said you wanted to get fucked everywhere," he murmured beside her between labored breaths. Ahsoka could tell that he needed release, but she was still unsure of how to give him the same pleasure he gave her. She knew, of course, that she could reach up and caress his horns, base to tip, making him shudder, and she did, but it wasn't the same. It would never be the same. Did that make her selfish for wanting more?</p><p>She decided that she didn't care.</p><p>"I did," she said in reply, voice practically a whine. "But it's too much, Master—let me have a moment—"</p><p>"No," he said calmly, a smirk growing on his face. "You'll take what I give you, understand?"</p><p>She was silent, and Maul <em>roared,</em> slapping her across the cheek. Ahsoka felt blood spurt inside her mouth at his show of violence, and she savored the taste of it, metallic undertones spreading over her tongue and heat shooting to her core. She clenched noticeably, and Maul raised an eyebrow. "Are you going to be good now? Are you going to be an obedient whore for me?"</p><p>Ahsoka nodded this time, demure against the lushness of the carpet beneath her. "Yes, my Lord."</p><p>"Good," Maul purred, unhooking his saber from his belt. "And now, let's give you what your body wants."</p><p>Ahsoka couldn't help but hiss as his saber rutted into her then, but it wasn't as painful as she last remembered it. Maybe that was because Maul had just spent the past five minutes scissoring her apart with his fingers. She moaned as the weapon hit her g-spot forcefully, sending a shudder across her entire body. "Master—"</p><p>"Yes, Lady Tano?"</p><p>He wasn't moving the saber; it was still. Ahsoka clenched around it, but he did not continue. They both knew that they had to carry the utmost carefulness in this moment. If things became too out of control, Maul could accidentally ignite the lightsaber, tearing Ahsoka in two.</p><p>"Fuck me," she moaned after a moment, when she couldn't hold it back any longer. "Please, Master!"</p><p>Smirking, he smacked the side of her hip. The skin there stung, and Ahsoka was sure that it would bruise. Not that she minded it. "I think I enjoy you perfectly like this," Maul said. "All wanton on the floor like a fucking animal, tight hole stretched around my saber, literally fucking danger as you wait for release."</p><p>His words made a shudder tear through her, thick and forceful as crackling lightning, and Ahsoka moaned. <em>"Master—"</em></p><p>"Quiet!" Maul snapped, a little more irritated this time, though Ahsoka was sure that it was still a guise. He wouldn't have it in him to complain when she was lying out like a whore, almost discarded, because he was weak. Men were weak, even those who had been torn down to the bone and reconstructed from broken halves and other ramshackle bits back to their partial selves again.</p><p>So Ahsoka wasn't worried as Maul cupped each of her breasts in his large tattooed hands, fondling them gently, or when he took her left nipple between his lips and sucked hard, sending another wave of want through her. And somehow, just for a brief moment, she didn't care if he would see her only as an object for him to fuck, or at least pretend to fuck, because she was euphoric, and she couldn't be brought down from her high.</p><p>But that would end soon, she knew. Ahsoka wasn't stupid, and she only saw this as a stepping stone to Maul's lowered expectations of her. She could play a role.</p><p>And yet…He wasn't a fool either. Maul would know that she was holding herself back, at least to a certain extent. So she couldn't exactly play dumb. But she <em>could</em> lay low—at least until their approaching duel.</p><p>The thoughts spun through her head like cotton sugar, sweet and dangerous, before Ahsoka pushed them aside and allowed herself to enjoy the moment. Maul was finally reaching to grab ahold of his saber now, pressing and pulling it in and out of her, eliciting low groans that she didn't know she could even make. It was a tad less uncomfortable than it had been the first time Maul had used his saber to fuck her, and Ahsoka thought that she could get used to this feeling, even if it wasn't ideal.</p><p>"My Lord," Ahsoka pleaded, her voice barely more than a whisper. She could feel herself teetering over the edge of a precipitous cliff, and she wanted to fling herself from it with abandon. "Master, <em>please—"</em></p><p>He fucked her harder, the both of them panting as Ahsoka neared her climax. Finally, she came around the saber violently, torso and hips pitching upward from the carpet and grabbing onto Maul's horns for balance, finishing him off as well. Sensation rocked through her, waves of pleasure rolling from her lekku all the way to her cunt, sending shocks through her. Ahsoka huddled against Maul's large body, allowing herself to be vulnerable there.</p><p>To her surprise, he placed an arm around her, laying soft kisses atop her head, in the smooth dip between her montrals."My sweet and spicy Lady Tano," Maul murmured possessively, curling her closer. Ahsoka sighed into him, enjoying his heat and the sticky feeling of her own come between her folds. She would have stayed there a while longer, except—</p><p>"Are you so easily sated, apprentice?" Maul asked her softly, his tone deceptively calm, laced with sweet honey edges. "You do not wish to finish our little arrangement?"</p><p>Ahsoka's eyes widened when she remembered what she had begged him for just a few moments ago. "M-My Lord?"</p><p>His lip curled into a sneer, which frustratingly detracted none of his handsome looks. "Three orgasms is not a lot, my dear."</p><p>Ahsoka raised her eyebrows at him, but Maul only shrugged with a cocked smirk. "You will have to get used to it, little one."</p><p>Ahsoka squirmed as he lifted her again, placing her carefully back in the Chancellor's chair reverently, as if she was dressed as a true empress, and not a disrobed whore. "Don't call me that,"</p><p>"Don't call you what?"</p><p><em>"Little one,"</em> Ahsoka replied quietly. "I'm not the same person I was as Anakin Skywalker's padawan. I'm not the same person I was in the Clone Wars or even as a Grey Jedi. I'm just as powerful as you, and I am a Sith Lord. Sith Lady. Whatever you want to call me, but that is who I am."</p><p>"And yet," he hissed, "you are still my apprentice."</p><p>Ahsoka felt a chill run through her as his hands cupped her ass, one on each cheek, squeezing her skin tightly. She knew what he meant by <em>that,</em> for while the Jedi's relationships between a Master and padawan were such as that between a teacher and student, she was beginning to suspect that the power dynamics between two Sith Lords had much different implications.</p><p>Squeezing her eyes shut, body responding to Maul's ministrations as she fought to quell the rebellion stirring inside her again, Ahsoka gave herself back to the pleasure. Well, <em>almost.</em> "I don't belong to you, Maul. I am not your slave."</p><p>He smiled at her, the expression devoid of true happiness. But there was definitely excitement there—a challenge? With a flash of his perpetually yellow eyes, Maul bent his head to her pussy, tongue flitting between her dripping folds. Ahsoka moaned as his perfect mouth met her clit and played there, his hands still clenching around her ass.</p><p>But he pulled away again once he was satisfied that she was close. "You are right," he said, and in her haze of pleasure, Ahsoka had almost forgotten what she had said before. Then she remembered. "You are not my slave, Lady Tano," Maul whispered to her quietly. "I told you when you joined me that I would never use you like they do."</p><p>"And you were manipulating me," she shot back between pants, throwing her arms over the sides of the chair to meet where her legs were already spread. She really did look like a whore, even to her own self. Yet she couldn't find it within her to be embarrassed. She wanted this, however terrible it was. "You lied to me. You've been using me since the beginning. You are using me right now."</p><p>Maul sniffed haughtily. "You can keep telling that to yourself," he said. "But I have set you free in a way no other person would be able to do."</p><p>"To be your little apprentice who lets you fuck her into oblivion and whisper stolen promises to her about the nature of power?"</p><p>Maul looked at her intently then, brows drawing together into a fierce line as he stared up at her from between her legs. After a moment, he said. "It is a bit of both worlds, Ahsoka."</p><p>She shook her head. "There will only be one world, Maul."</p><p>She hoped that her warning would be enough to stop him before it was too late.</p><p>***</p><p>Later, when they were both lazily ensconced in what had been one of the abandoned Jedi Master's sleeping quarters, settling down to finally get some rest, Ahsoka rolled over to face him, expression stony. "We still need to have our duel," she told him firmly. "What you did to Obi-Wan was wrong. I'm not just going to let you forget."</p><p>"Why must you keep defending Kenobi?" Maul sneered, staring up at the ceiling. "He took everything from me My body, my whole livelihood. He's the reason—"</p><p>"He's the reason you met me," Ahsoka said quietly. When he didn't respond, she continued, "Think about it. If you had succeeded that day on Naboo, things would have gone much differently. Obi-Wan wouldn't have trained Anakin as a padawan, and I would have probably been sent off to the Corps when it was my turn. Our paths would never have crossed."</p><p>Slowly, Maul nodded.</p><p>"I…like doing twisted things, and my conscience doesn't seem to care about it, not even my inner Force presence," Ahsoka continued, aware that she had shifted topics slightly. "We can murder, we can torture, we can enslave the entire Republic—<em>Empire</em>—for all I care. We can disband the Senate. But…not that. <em>Please."</em></p><p>He wouldn't look at her, and for a brief moment, she thought that he might be ashamed. But it was just for a brief moment. Then his mask of cockiness and confidence was back, and Ahsoka sank back down into the sheets, rolling away from him so that she couldn't see his yellow gaze.</p><p>"We can duel tomorrow," he finally said, and she supposed that that settled it.</p><p>***</p><p>The morning came with a swift chill that immediately settled in Ahsoka's bones, nestling there until she no longer felt it. She lifted herself from Maul's side, feet landing in silence on the carpeted floor, and padded over to her armor—skimpy as it was, it was still something. And Ahsoka was skilled enough that it didn't matter too much what she was wearing.</p><p>She wondered for a moment what the rest of the galaxy, the rest of the Republic—or what was left of it—was doing right now. Perhaps they were mourning the loss of the Jedi or waiting in expectation for the coming shift in power. At that, Ahsoka smirked. Even the Senators had no idea what was coming for them, but she and Maul would have to be stealthy in order to penetrate their ranks and convert the entire system to their side. Of course, the smartest Senators would still suspect them—Ahsoka could already imagine Bail Organa's stern glare as he led his own 'rebellion'—but without the resources and proof, they wouldn't be able to do much.</p><p>Everything she and Maul had hoped for was coming to fruition.</p><p>But today, none of that mattered. Today, she had to duel her master, to best him in battle. If she lost…Ahsoka couldn't think about that. The implications were too painful, and every time the thought crossed her mind, a twinge of self-hatred and regret at not taking action on Mustafar burrowed itself deeper inside of her.</p><p>So, then—she had to win, or she wouldn't be able to live with herself.</p><p>Carefully, Ahsoka prepared her dual red sabers, relishing the way they lit the room in its only early-morning light with a pink glow. She hooked them to her belt strap with every ounce of reference she had in her, for they would need to serve her well today. She briefly considered, too, slitting Maul's throat here and now. It would be so easy…</p><p>She dismissed the thought as soon as it had come. Although she was a Sith, she wouldn't relinquish her honor, and killing a defenseless person without a proper fight was hardly honorable. She couldn't really see Maul doing that to someone either. Sure, he might kill a person without a weapon; he might kill children and innocents (and she knew that he had done all of these before), but he wouldn't kill someone in their sleep. She didn't think.</p><p>Ahsoka was just about to wake Maul up when he roused himself, just as the light in the small bedroom began to change from the multicolored streaks of dawn to a full sunrise. He yawned and stretched, and then he saw Ahsoka, poised with unspent tension, limbs coiled and ready to strike. "So soon, Lady Ignis?"</p><p>Ahsoka didn't say anything, just moved her hands to rest on her lightsabers.</p><p>"If you wish, then." Maul stood, brushing the crumbs of sleep from the corners of his eyes, and threw on a pair of trousers over his metal legs, not that they were truly necessary. Ahsoka suspected that at this point, he simply wore them to make himself seem less monstrous, more normal, even though his personality brought out the abomination in him more than his appearance ever could.</p><p>But now was not the time to get philosophical, and Ahsoka didn't want to think about it too hard anyway. If he was an abomination, then she was not much better, and that was… Well, she didn't know how she felt about it. Her emotions rolled like a sea in a storm inside of her, too complicated and powerful to be calmed. Instead of trying to soothe herself over the past few days, she had thrown herself carelessly into action, preferring to think about their new Empire and government and her new power—even Maul's terrible deeds—more than anything about herself.</p><p>Was that what they had called the Jedi way?</p><p>A few moments later, when Maul was finished waking himself up and making himself presentable, Ahsoka led him out into the corridor and to a large training room. She expected it to get out of hand, and she knew that they might break the walls and the whole expedition to find a perfect dueling place would be pointless, but for now, this was enough. Besides, the Jedi Temple was so destroyed at this point, nothing of its fine architecture truly mattered.</p><p>Unless…</p><p>Unless when she and Maul built their own Order, they did it here, in this very temple. It would be a slap in the face to all the Jedi who had come before, and it would throw dissenters off their trail. After all, who would suspect a new generation of Sith rising from the ashes of what had been a haven for the Jedi?</p><p>Ahsoka smirked to herself, pleased with her plans and scheming. No doubt that Maul would find fault with them somehow…but maybe not. He was unpredictable, after all.</p><p>She pushed the thoughts from her mind at the moment, honing in on the Force that echoed around her and Maul, roiling between their bond and pinging from their minds. She had to win. She <em>had</em> to.</p><p>Across from her, Maul squared up as well, adjusting his grip on his dual-bladed lightsaber and giving it a few practice twirls. "Are you ready?" he asked, growl permeating his voice. Ahsoka could tell that he was just as adrenalized as she was.</p><p>"I'm ready," she replied, willing her voice to stay calm and leveled. To her delight, it did, and she found that that fact alone gave her all the confidence and bravado she'd had facing Maul for the first time on Mandalore, even if they had never ended up dueling there. The Force told her that if she had truly wanted to, she would have won. And now, she hoped that it would be the same.</p><p>Without warning, Maul flew towards her, a blur of red light and black limbs. He was a master at his form, but so was Ahsoka, and they met in the air with a hiss of crossing lightsabers. Ahsoka gave her stroke a slight Force Push, and with it, Maul was swept to the side with a snarl, swinging his saber around to deflect her left one.</p><p>Ahsoka grinned, the expression more terrifying than happy, mouth open wide in what might be a grimace, if she was not so filled with energy. She felt her eyes widen with the crackling power within her, and sent a series of slashes towards Maul, upper and lower and one saber on each side, cutting towards him at lightning speed.</p><p>But Maul was practiced at this. He had fought the famous Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi many times, even when he was just a Padawan, rife with chaotic and impulsive energy that had, at first, not served him well. Ahsoka had practice dueling with Obi-Wan many times. She had never won. Not once. He was practiced and measured and because of that, he could ration his energy, save his strength. He'd learned that on Naboo, and he'd attempted to teach the style to Anakin and Ahsoka—not that they had ever managed to achieve it.</p><p>And all these times, Maul had <em>won.</em> Maul had succeeded where most others had failed, and now Ahsoka was facing <em>him,</em> the reckoning of all Force-sensitive combatants.</p><p>But she had something he did not—the element of surprise. He had never seen her duel; he did not know her style, form, strengths, or weaknesses. And so Ahsoka pressed on, leaping into the air as graceful as a lifelong dancer at the Coruscant Ballet, and twirled to meet him in a clash of red against red, each of her sabers meeting a match in his.</p><p>They were equal, she found, and so it went on, each of them refusing to relinquish the fight. Maul was on the offensive now, his powerful metal legs propelling him forward until they pinned her to the wall, tightly pressing into her hips. It was painful, and she loved it, but she couldn't lose herself now. Gritting her teeth, Ahsoka pushed back against him, grinning when a twist of her sabers allowed her to escape under his thick bicep and press him back where she had just been.</p><p>"You are skilled, apprentice," Maul whispered as she pressed against him, pulling on his grip on his lightsaber with the Force. "You have surprised me today."</p><p>"You underestimated me, Master?" she replied, the gentlest of sneers in her question. "I'm disappointed."</p><p>Maul shrugged, massive shoulders rising and falling effortlessly despite Ahsoka's firm hold on him. "You are small, and deceptively strong. You are young, and yet well-trained and naturally powerful. Of course I underestimated you. I shouldn't have. You were trained by the best."</p><p>Ahsoka smirked. "The Chosen One is dead, now. What does that make me?"</p><p>Maul's eyes flashed, his yellow irises burning into her. Ahsoka felt her pulse jump at the intensity of his gaze, and she couldn't help but remember their arduous and extensive rendezvous the previous evening. Clenching her jaw and her cunt, she leveled one of her sabers to his neck, the other pointing at his side so that he couldn't shift his position. "<em>Well?"</em></p><p>"You are not the Chosen One, little Lady Ignis," Maul replied scornfully, and Ahsoka curled her lip at his use of the word <em>little</em> again. "You cannot possibly think that just because you killed him, that you can take his place."</p><p>Ahsoka scoffed, pressing a cold kiss to the corner of his lips and sighing against his cheek. She <em>had</em> thought that, just for a moment, even if she didn't want to admit it. But she wouldn't admit that to Maul—even if he <em>could</em> see into her mind. "Don't be ridiculous," she spat instead, flitting her tongue out to caress the lines of one of his facial tattoos. "I was just wondering if killing him made me anything special."</p><p>Maul let out a low laugh. "You are special, with or without Skywalker," he said sharply. "Stop comparing yourself to him."</p><p>And with that, he let himself go.</p><p>Ahsoka could feel her grip on the Force weakening as it flocked to Maul instead, the massive Zabrak caressing the energy in his empty palm and bleeding it into his lightsaber. She felt herself falling and realized that he'd managed to push her off of himself, despite every precaution that she had taken.</p><p>Ahsoka swore, attempting to pick herself up again, but it was too late—the Force was pressing in on her from all directions, and Maul was coming at her with his dual lightsaber, spinning it around and around and around again until it was just a blur of bright, perilous <em>red.</em></p><p>He grabbed her collar before she could move and thrust her against the transparisteel wall that allowed the sparring room to overlook the city. Ahsoka heard a terrible dry rasping sound as he threw her into it, causing the clear wall to shatter and force her to hold onto him for dear life, and realized that Maul was laughing.</p><p>How did she always manage to forget just how dangerous he was?</p><p>She was completely at his whim now, hanging over the streets and airways below like an animal caught in a hanging trap. She <em>was</em> an animal caught in a trap. And she alone had allowed herself to fall prey. Force, she was so <em>stupid.</em></p><p>"So…this is it," Maul murmured, a diabolical grin crossing his features, and somehow, Ahsoka could still hear his smooth, silky voice despite the roaring of the wind around her and speeders skidding by below her swinging feet. "You can fall, or you can yield."</p><p>"If I yield?" she questioned, breathless.</p><p>"Then I have won," he replied simply, no amount of pride hidden from his tone. "Then you will have to face the consequences. I have just the person in mind to ease your qualms about what I did to Kenobi. Say the word, and I will bring you back into the Temple. I will allow you to rest before you must face the woman I have captured."</p><p>"And if I don't?" Ahsoka asked softly, barely able to keep the growing panic from her voice.</p><p>Maul smiled. "Let me reiterate your options: You can forcefully take a person to be yours. You can fuck them without consequences, whether they want you or not. Or—you can die below the very Temple that you wished to escape, once upon a time."</p><p>Ahsoka was still. She closed her eyes, licking her lips to soothe them against the bitter wind, but it only made the cold more brittle, more acute. She didn't really have a choice. Maul would do what he wanted either way, and her choice meant little in the grand scheme of the galaxy.</p><p>"Fine," she spat out, the word a curse upon her lips. "Fine! Let me go."</p><p>"Let you <em>go?</em>" Smirking, Maul's eyes drifted downward to the meters upon meters of empty air below where Ahsoka was lifted.</p><p>"You know what I mean!" She was desperate now. And disappointed in herself. After everything, she had still lost.</p><p>And some sick part of her was already anticipating with excitement the terrible deed that she would do.</p><p>Expressionless, Maul threw her back into the training room, and Ahsoka gasped as her bare back hit the glass-covered floor, shards digging into her exposed skin. "Maul. <em>Maul.</em> Why?"</p><p>"You will thank me," he murmured quietly, coming over to her to press and hand into her back, causing the glass to sink in further. Ahsoka screamed, piercing pain echoing through every part of her body. Maul's other hand was on her neck, squeezing it tightly—she could barely breathe—</p><p>"Maul—<em>Master—</em>" she choked.</p><p>"My dear Lady Ignis. My firey darling. You have experienced what is only the beginning."</p><p>What? What had she experienced? Pain? Betrayal? Or perhaps she had known, deep down, how everything was to come to fruition from the start. So she whispered to him, voice raspy and filled with fear she had never wanted, "What is it?"</p><p>"An empire of our own, darling," he replied, so quietly that Ahsoka barely heard it. "A reckoning. You understand?"</p><p>She did. She would not cross him again.</p><p>"You've earned, in your stunning combat skills, a place equal at my side," he continued. "You <em>will</em> truly be my empress." Ahsoka could only hear him now; her consciousness was fading. "After you tend to Offee, of course."</p><p><em>Offee.</em> The name struck a chord in her mind. <em>Offee.</em> Barriss Offee.</p><p>
  <em>Oh, fuck.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p><i>chapter warnings: dom/sub smut, multiple orgasms, violence, discussions of rape</i><br/>--</p><p>Well! That was a fun chapter—and it concludes Part I! Yay!! The next chapter begins Part II, which will be the start of a much darker period of time for the republic/empire!<br/>As always, comments/reviews are greatly appreciated, whether you want to leave a compliment or feedback or both:)</p><p>Come say hi to me on tumblr <a href="https://darkalinas.tumblr.com/">@darkalinas</a>!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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